Startup Lawyer Defines Silicon Valley Clichés
A partner in a Silicon Valley law firm who works with startup companies has written something of a primer on the popular “catchphrases, clichés and buzzwords” he learned during countless hours in board meetings.
Writing at Under the Radar, lawyer Ivan Gaviria of Gunderson Dettmer lists 10 “classic Valley clichés.” They include:
• Open the kimono. The phrase means to reveal sensitive or confidential information, especially in negotiations. “I’m frankly amazed that this one is still in heavy circulation with the politically incorrect overtones, but I think I hear it at least once a week,” Gaviria says.
• Is it the horse or the jockey? Gaviria heard the phrase used in a debate about why a highly recruited salesman wasn’t getting the job done.
• We gave up the sleeves off our vest. The phrase means a concession that doesn’t cost anything. “Its corollary among sartorial metaphors is the ‘belt and suspenders,’ ” Gaviria writes, meaning “a purposely redundant addition to an agreement made to satisfy a paranoid party.”
• Reach out/ping/circle back. “No one around here can just call someone,” Gaviria writes. “You have to ‘reach out’ or ‘ping’ them, etc.”
Hat tip to Legal Pad.
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