koldstart

Koldstart is a Swedish term that translates to "cold start" in English and is used across multiple technical and practical domains to describe starting or operating a system without prior state, data, or warming. The term appears in computing, engineering, and platform economics with related but distinct meanings.

In computing and machine learning, koldstart refers to the problem of making reliable predictions or recommendations when little or no user or item data exists. New users, new items, or fresh systems lack historical signals, which degrades performance of collaborative methods. Common mitigations include content-based approaches, hybrid models, transfer learning, explicit onboarding questionnaires, and synthetic or bootstrapped data.

In software and hardware contexts, a koldstart denotes powering a device from an entirely off state. This contrasts with a warm start or restart, and can involve longer initialization, cache misses, or additional checks. In services and cloud systems, cold starts are notable when serverless functions or containers are instantiated on demand, affecting latency.

In automotive and mechanical contexts, koldstart describes starting an engine at low ambient temperatures. Cold starts can increase emissions and wear until the engine reaches operating temperature; remedies include preheating, richer fuel mixtures, or engine management strategies.

In platform economics, koldstart captures the difficulty of launching multi-sided markets where initial users are scarce. Strategies involve seeding markets, subsidies, or leveraging existing networks to reach critical mass. Across uses, the term emphasizes the performance and logistics challenges posed by lack of prior state or data.