adjective · status: emerging
stealth
1.A startup or project being developed without public details. Used sarcastically for an unemployed person working on an unfunded side project, usually described on LinkedIn as "building in stealth" or "building something new."
He got laid off in February and now his LinkedIn says he is building in stealth.
01Origin
Startup "stealth mode" was established Silicon Valley vocabulary by the dot-com era, when companies kept their products, names, or plans secret until launch. Contemporary accounts describe the strategy as especially fashionable during the late 1990s, though no individual coiner is documented.
The satirical meaning grew out of LinkedIn's widespread use of "Stealth Startup" as a placeholder employer. By the mid-2020s, founders, recruiters, and commenters were openly joking that "Founder at Stealth Startup" could mean someone was between jobs, still choosing an idea, or disguising a resume gap while claiming to be "building."
02Notable sightings
03Spread the ism
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