Definition
FTE
Full-time equivalent. The unit of a traditional agency's cost structure.
From the episode “Why Your AI-Designed Brand Is Invisible, and the 3-Step Fix”How founders on the podcast use it
Full-time equivalent, the unit legacy vendors bill against.
America Spends $5 Trillion on Health. This Is Where It LeaksHear it on the podcast2 episodes
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Related terms in Leadership & Mindset
Founder Blind SpotAreas of the startup journey where a founder does not know what they do not know — the most common being what validation actually requires, what investors need to see before taking a meeting, and how to distinguish genuine market signal from polite social feedback.Founder DNADenver Ventures' core investment thesis. The belief that a founder's personal background, network, relationships, and domain obsession are more predictive of success than the product at early stages.Founder Self-AwarenessThe ability to see patterns in your own thinking, behavior, stress, and decisions rather than simply reacting in the moment.Fractional CTOA senior technical leader hired part time, giving startups CTO-level engineering leadership while keeping equity and payroll cost down. One of Cause of a Kind's core service offerings.GovernanceThe rules controlling who and what, including AI agents, can access data and take actions.Gross National HappinessBhutan's national development index, coined by its fourth King in the late 1970s, which measures wellbeing across nine domains instead of prioritizing GDP.HandbookRob Collie's plain-language term for the instructions that turn a generalist model into a role-specific agent. Known internally as a system prompt.HedonismThe pursuit of pleasure as a primary goal.