Declare Your Independence From Startup Buzzwords
While sounding impressive, these words rarely explain why your solution matters and who should care.
Whether you’re celebrating Canada Day or America’s 250th Birthday this week, it’s a good time to break the shackles of these meaningless words that get used to absolutely no effect on mission statements, websites, and overly dramatic email signature lines.
How do you know you’ve crossed the line into the void of meaningless? Ask yourself these questions before you hit “Post.”
- Is there a simpler synonym you could’ve used?
- Can you define the word without using a digital tool?
- Are you using the word to impress your audience?
I don’t have a grudge against a colorful vocabulary. My degree is in English literature. And most of the founders my agency works for spent long years in some of America’s finest universities.
But the business world is a different animal.
Overly intricate language and style create unnecessary friction far more than it impresses. Funders aren’t backing companies that use words even James Joyce would struggle to understand. (Confession: I never got through his books. They may be lauded as some of the finest fiction written in English, but I put the books down after struggling through the first 50 pages because a) I got lost in the plot, and b) he made me feel dumb for not being able to follow his dense interior monologues.)
When you use industry jargon or buzzwords that become popular for a period of time, yet often have the original meaning removed through fashionable use, you aren’t signaling to your audience how much your education cost; you’re signaling ambiguity or unoriginality, a silent kiss of death if you are creating first-of-its-kind climate tech/water tech/hard tech/deep tech companies.
When the average VC spends less than three minutes looking through a pitch deck and less than a minute scrolling your website homepage, can you really afford them to read the same meaningless cliches as they’ve already seen several times that day?
Your goal in an introductory email, a pitch deck, a website, or a video is comprehension, because you need the reader to be able to articulate what they just read to their team members, whether it’s their partners or their company's higher-ups. If the words are meaningless or imprecise, how likely do you think they will be able to translate them to their audiences without you in the room?
Words To Delete From Your Technology Company Vocabulary
There’s a much longer list of verbs and adjectives I’d like to delete from the English language, but if you’re a cleantech/climate tech/water tech/hard tech founder, draw a thick red line through these words any time you see them appear on any of your multi-media marketing materials.
Innovate—is there anything, anywhere that’s new that doesn’t use this word?
Synergy—even if you know what it means, why would anyone care?
Catalyze—if this word was a vampire, I’d like to drive a wooden stake through it.
Disruptive—is not a goal of an organization, and if you are selling into an industry that’s resistant to change, they don’t want to be disrupted.
Optimize—so you’re going to save me money. Say it that way.
Leverage—makes me think of a Soviet-era weightlifter.
Game-changer—Penicillin was a game-changer. The microwave oven was a game-changer. Your SaaS is not.
Harmonize—are you part of a choral group?
Next gen—a hype word that even Flavor Flav is embarrassed to use.
Mission-critical—A heart transplant—yes. Improving your AI chip—no.
What are your least favorite meaningless cliches that should be thrown overboard like tea into the Boston Harbor?
