The Downturn Dictionary
from the going-into-cold-storage dept
A Boston Globe columnist takes a look at some of the lingo of the tech downturn to display the general mood towards tech investing these days. So, apparently, companies that have laid off everyone but haven’t actually shut down are in “cold storage”. Companies that have received new investments need to be “capital efficient” and stretch it as far as it can go. Startups aren’t rushing out products as quickly anymore, and spend more time “baking the beta” to make sure their products are fully cooked before they release them on an unsuspecting public. VCs are apparently looking for companies that can “plant crops in the asphalt”, with the assumption that when the good times roll again, a company that can plant crops in the asphalt, can also do so in the grass. Finally, all those companies that are moving jobs overseas are taking part in massive “labor arbitrage”.
