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I don't know if it's uniquely American but I agree it is a very annoying term. It just means cash. Finance bros like to pretend they are "going into battle" or something when they go negotiate an acquisition, so the analogy is that you have a large store of gunpowder ready to deploy at a moment's notice when you want to go to war (go acquire a company).

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From the context I figured this was more a "pancake mix" as they have the powder and now they just need to add water. You know, boyz be cookin'. Wouldn't figure out that this is some "war" analogy.

it comes from "keep your powder dry" (ready) in the military sense, I think.

On the plus side, when you're a seller, you want buyers who have this attitude. That they are going to war and the only way they can emerge victorious is by deploying an enormous amount in your direction. You want buyers who will brag to their friends about how much they spent.

I interviewed at Superhuman almost a decade ago, and the founder did indeed brag [repeatedly] to me about how they bought the superhuman.com domain for $300k.

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