Learn the Lingo VCs Actually Use | Paige Soya, Nick Duafala, & K Street Capital

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For years, founders and investors have used terms like “fintech,” “SaaS,” and “platform” without always having a shared definition. But as venture firms rely more heavily on data to track deals, returns, and portfolio performance, getting that language right matters more than ever.

In this episode of High Stakes, Paige Soya and Nick Duafala are joined by K Street Capital’s Joseph Whang and Jose Cifuentes for a Venture Capital 101 breakdown of how VCs classify the startups they evaluate.

Using real-world examples from Salesforce, Airbnb, Facebook, and Auth0, the team walks through the eight categories that make up K Street’s internal deal taxonomy, why consistent classification matters, and how founders can use the same framework to better understand, and communicate, their businesses.

In this episode:

The eight categories we use to classify startups
Why a company’s industry and its customer’s industry aren’t necessarily the same
How B2B, B2C, B2G, and dual-use define customer type
Why go-to-market motion—direct, enterprise, product-led, or channel—matters to investors
How VCs think about business and revenue models
The difference between product type and technology category, and why AI increasingly cuts across both
What separates a true platform from a suite of products or services
How K Street uses AI internally to keep deal data consistent and comparable

Whether you’re a founder refining your fundraising narrative or a new investor learning the language of venture capital, this episode is a practical guide to how VCs actually think about and categorize the companies they evaluate.

Topics: Venture Capital • Startup Fundraising • Startup Taxonomy • Business Models • Go-to-Market Strategy • SaaS • Marketplaces • Venture Investing • Founder Advice • Startup Strategy

Timestamps

00:00 – Cold open: The data problem behind bad taxonomy
00:58 – Welcome to High Stakes: VC 101
02:04 – Meet the deal team: Joseph & Jose
05:09 – The 8 categories of startup taxonomy
05:50 – Category 1: Industry
06:52 – Verticals within industries + the “customer industry” mistake
11:27 – Category 2: Customer type (B2B/B2C/B2G) & market characteristics
12:26 – Dual-use, government contracting & defense tech
14:37 – Category 3: Go-to-market strategy
19:19 – Category 4: Business model & revenue model
21:44 – Can a services business be venture-backable?
26:19 – Category 5: Product type
28:16 – Category 6: Technology (AI, quantum, space & robotics)
32:01 – How K Street uses AI internally for deal data
36:11 – What makes something a true “platform”?
38:03 – Rapid fire: Hidden talents, biggest mistakes & best advice
41:01 – Final thoughts