Startup Glossary
Embark on a cosmic journey through the vast universe of startup terminology. Discover the key concepts, strategies, and jargon that power the stars of innovation, from launch to liftoff. Navigate the startup cosmos and expand your knowledge with our comprehensive glossary of terms.
A/B Testing
A method of comparing two versions of a webpage or app to determine which performs better based on user response.
Accelerated Growth
A phase where a startup experiences rapid expansion in revenue, customer base, or market presence.
Accelerated Vesting
The process of speeding up the vesting schedule for employee stock options.
Accelerator
A program that supports startups with funding, mentorship, and resources in exchange for equity, often culminating in a demo day.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
A strategic marketing approach that focuses on targeting specific high-value accounts or companies with personalized campaigns.
Acqui-Hire
An acquisition where the primary goal is to hire the acquired company's employees, rather than its products or services.
Acquisition
The process of one company purchasing another, either to expand its business or eliminate competition.
Agile Development
A software development methodology focused on iterative development, collaboration, and customer feedback.
Angel Investment
A form of early-stage financing provided by high-net-worth individuals (angel investors) in exchange for equity ownership in a startup.
Angel Investor
An individual who provides capital for a startup in exchange for equity, often at the early stages.
Angel Round
An early stage of startup financing provided by angel investors, usually before venture capital rounds.
Automation
The use of technology to perform tasks with minimal human intervention, improving efficiency and reducing errors.
B2B (Business-to-Business)
Companies that sell products or services to other businesses rather than individual consumers.
B2C (Business-to-Consumer)
Companies that sell products or services directly to individual consumers.
Beta Testing
A testing phase where a product is released to a limited audience to identify bugs and gather user feedback before the official launch.
Blue Ocean Strategy
A business approach that focuses on creating new markets with little competition.
Bootstrapped
A company that is self-funded, without relying on external investment.
Bootstrapping
Starting a business using personal savings and revenue, without external funding.
Bottom-Up Approach
A business strategy that focuses on engaging individual users or departments to gain adoption within a larger organization.
Bridge Loan
A short-term loan used to meet immediate financing needs until more permanent financing is available.
Burn Rate
The rate at which a company spends its cash reserves before generating positive cash flow.
Burnout
A state of physical and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress, often seen in startup environments.
Business Collaboration
The process of two or more companies working together to achieve common goals, often through partnerships, joint ventures, or strategic alliances.
Business Development
The process of identifying and pursuing growth opportunities for a company through partnerships, new markets, or product development.
Business Expansion
The process of growing a company's operations, entering new markets, or increasing the product or service offerings.
Business Intelligence (BI)
The technology-driven process of analyzing data to help companies make informed business decisions.
Business Plan
A detailed document outlining a company's goals, strategies, target market, and financial forecasts, used to guide its growth and attract investors.
CapEx (Capital Expenditure)
Funds used by a company to acquire, upgrade, or maintain physical assets such as property, industrial buildings, or equipment.
Capital Expenditure (CapEx)
Funds used by a company to acquire, upgrade, or maintain physical assets, such as property, industrial buildings, or equipment.
Cash Flow
The movement of money in and out of a business, reflecting its liquidity and operational health.
Change of Control
An event where the ownership of a company changes significantly, often triggering contractual clauses or regulatory requirements.
Chasm
A gap that startups must cross to move from early adopters to mainstream customers.
Churn Rate
The percentage of customers who stop using a company's product or service over a specific period.
Co-Founders
Individuals who jointly establish a company, sharing responsibilities, decision-making, and ownership.
Cohort Analysis
A method used to track the behavior of a group of users who share a common characteristic over time.
Collateral
An asset pledged by a borrower to secure a loan, which can be seized by the lender if the borrower fails to repay.
Competitive Advantage
A unique attribute or capability that allows a company to outperform its competitors, such as cost leadership, innovation, or customer service.
Concierge Service
A personalized service provided to customers, often involving a dedicated assistant who handles tasks and requests on their behalf.
Consumer Behavior
The study of how individuals make decisions about purchasing goods and services, influenced by psychological, social, and cultural factors.
Continuous Integration (CI)
A development practice where code changes are automatically tested and integrated into the main codebase to detect issues early.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
The process of improving a website, landing page, or marketing campaign to increase the percentage of visitors who take a desired action.
Creditworthiness
An evaluation of a borrower's ability to repay a loan based on their financial history and current credit score.
Cross-Sell
A sales strategy where additional products or services are offered to an existing customer.
Customer Acquisition
The process of attracting and converting new customers to buy a product or service.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
The total cost associated with acquiring a new customer, including marketing, sales, and onboarding expenses.
Customer Churn
The rate at which customers stop doing business with a company over a specific period.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
The total amount of revenue a business can expect to earn from a single customer account over the entire customer relationship.
Customer Retention
The ability of a company to keep its customers over time by delivering value and fostering long-term relationships.
Customer Validation
The process of confirming that a product meets the needs of target customers by testing assumptions and gathering feedback.
Dark Pattern
User interface design that deliberately tricks or manipulates users into making unintended decisions.
Debt Financing
The process of raising capital by borrowing money, which must be repaid with interest.
Digital Marketing
The practice of promoting products, services, or brands using online channels and digital technologies to reach and engage audiences.
Dilution Protection
Provisions that help protect investors' ownership percentages from being diluted in future funding rounds.
Disruption
A process by which a smaller company with fewer resources successfully challenges established businesses.
Disruptive Innovation
An innovation that creates a new market or value network and eventually disrupts an existing market.
Disruptive Technology
An innovation that significantly alters industries or markets by creating new value networks and displacing established technologies.
Down Round
A financing round in which a startup raises capital at a lower valuation than its previous round.
Drag-Along Rights
A provision that allows majority shareholders to force minority shareholders to join in the sale of a company.
Dry Powder
Cash reserves kept on hand by investors or companies to take advantage of future opportunities.
Due Diligence
The process of thoroughly evaluating a company before making an investment or acquisition.
E-commerce
The buying and selling of goods and services over the internet, including online retail, marketplaces, and digital transactions.
Early Adopters
The first customers to use a new product or service, often willing to provide feedback.
Early Stage
The initial phase of a startup's development, characterized by product development and market research.
Early-Stage Startup
A young company that is typically in the process of developing its product, acquiring initial customers, and securing funding.
Elevator Pitch
A brief, persuasive speech that explains what a company does and its value proposition in a short time, typically under a minute.
Employee Engagement
The level of enthusiasm, motivation, and commitment that employees feel toward their work and organization.
Enterprise Sales
A sales approach focused on selling products or services to large organizations, often involving long sales cycles and multiple decision-makers.
Equity
Ownership interest in a company, often in the form of stock.
Equity Crowdfunding
A fundraising method where a company raises capital from a large number of investors, each taking a small equity stake.
Equity Dilution
The reduction in existing shareholders' ownership percentage due to the issuance of new shares.
Equity Financing
The process of raising capital by selling shares of a company, giving investors ownership stakes.
Escrow
A financial arrangement where a third party holds and regulates payment of funds required for two parties involved in a transaction.
Ethical Business
A business practice that upholds moral principles, transparency, and fairness in all aspects of its operations.
Exit
The process by which investors and founders sell their stakes in a company, typically through an acquisition or IPO.
Exit Strategy
A plan for how founders and investors will exit the business, typically through an acquisition, IPO, or merger.
Flywheel
A self-reinforcing loop that drives momentum and growth for a business.
Founder's Equity
The ownership interest held by the founders of a startup.
Freemium
A business model in which a product or service is provided for free, with the option to pay for premium features.
Funding Round
A stage of investment in which a startup raises capital from investors to support growth, typically referred to as Seed, Series A, B, C, etc.
Go-To-Market Strategy (GTM)
A plan that outlines how a company will sell its product or service to customers, including sales, marketing, and distribution tactics.
Growth Hacker
A marketer focused on rapidly growing a business using creative, low-cost strategies and data-driven approaches.
Growth Hacking
A marketing technique focused on rapid experimentation across channels to find the most effective ways to grow a business.
Growth Marketing
A data-driven approach to marketing focused on the entire customer journey, from acquisition to retention and expansion.
Growth Metrics
Key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure the growth of a company, including metrics such as customer acquisition, revenue growth, and user engagement.
Growth Stage
The phase in a startup's lifecycle characterized by rapid revenue and customer growth.
Heatmap
A data visualization tool that uses color gradients to represent the intensity of values, often used to analyze user behavior on websites.
High-Touch
A business model or customer service approach that emphasizes personalized, human interaction to meet customer needs.
Hiring Funnel
A process for recruiting candidates, consisting of several stages from sourcing to hiring.
Hockey Stick Growth
A pattern of rapid and sustained growth, typically seen after a period of little to no growth.
Incubator
An organization that provides startups with support services like office space, mentorship, and funding.
Incumbent
An established company that holds a significant position in a market or industry.
Intellectual Property (IP)
Legal rights that protect inventions, designs, and other creative works.
Interest Rate
The percentage charged on a loan or paid on an investment, representing the cost of borrowing or the reward for saving.
Investor Pitch
A presentation or proposal made by entrepreneurs to potential investors, aimed at securing funding for their startup.
IPO (Initial Public Offering)
The process by which a private company becomes publicly traded on a stock exchange.
IPO Lockup
A period following an IPO during which insiders are restricted from selling their shares.
Iteration
Repeatedly improving a product based on feedback and data.
Iterative Development
A process of software or product development in which the product is built and improved through repeated cycles or iterations.
Job Shadowing
A training method where an individual learns by observing a more experienced employee at work.
Joint Venture (JV)
A business arrangement where two or more companies come together to undertake a specific project or business activity.
Kanban
A visual workflow management method used in project management to improve efficiency and productivity.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving its key business objectives.
Knowledge Transfer
The process of sharing information, skills, or expertise within an organization to ensure that knowledge is retained and accessible.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
A measurable value that shows how effectively a company is achieving its objectives.
Lean Canvas
A one-page business plan template that helps startups outline key aspects of their business model.
Lean Startup
A methodology that emphasizes customer feedback, iterative design, and a minimal initial product.
Lifetime Value (LTV)
The total revenue a company expects to earn from a customer throughout their relationship.
Liquidity Event
A financial transaction that allows founders, employees, or investors to convert equity in a company into cash, typically through mergers, acquisitions, or IPOs.
Loan
A sum of money borrowed from a lender that must be repaid with interest over a set period.
Loan Maturity
The date on which the final payment of a loan is due, and the principal amount must be fully repaid.
Market Adoption
The process by which a new product or service gains acceptance and usage among consumers or businesses in a target market.
Market Fit
The degree to which a product satisfies a strong market demand.
Market Research
The process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information about a market, including information about customers, competitors, and industry trends.
Merger
The combination of two or more companies into a single entity, usually to achieve growth or efficiency.
Mergers
The process of combining two or more companies into a single entity, typically to achieve growth, reduce competition, or gain market share.
Moat
A competitive advantage that protects a company from its competitors.
Monetization
The process of generating revenue from a product, service, or platform.
MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
A version of a product with just enough features to attract early adopters and validate a product idea.
Network Effect
The phenomenon where a product or service becomes more valuable as more people use it.
Network Effects
The phenomenon where a product or service becomes more valuable as more people use it.
Networking
The process of building relationships and connections in the business world to seek opportunities, partnerships, or collaborations.
North Star Metric
A key metric that best captures the core value a product delivers to its customers.
Onboarding
The process of familiarizing new customers or employees with a company's products, services, or policies.
Onboarding Process
A structured approach for integrating new employees or customers into a company, ensuring a smooth transition.
One-Pager
A single-page document summarizing a company's product, service, or business idea, used for marketing or fundraising.
Open Banking
A financial services practice where banks share customer data with third-party providers through APIs, with customer consent.
OpEx (Operating Expenditure)
The day-to-day expenses a business incurs to run its operations.
Pitch Deck
A brief presentation used to provide an overview of a business, typically used to attract investors.
Pivot
A change in a startup's business model or strategy to better meet market demands or solve problems.
Post-Money Valuation
The value of a startup after receiving external funding or investment.
Pre-Money Valuation
The value of a startup before receiving external funding or investment.
Pre-Seed Funding
The earliest stage of startup funding, used to develop a concept or idea.
Private Equity
A form of investment where investors buy shares in privately-held companies, often aiming to improve performance and eventually sell at a profit.
Product Backlog
A prioritized list of features, enhancements, bug fixes, and technical tasks that guide the development of a product.
Product Development
The process of bringing a new product to market or improving an existing product, from idea generation to launch.
Product-Market Fit
When a startup's product effectively meets the needs of its target market.
Prototyping
The process of creating a preliminary version of a product to test and refine its features, design, and functionality.
Quality Assurance (QA)
The process of ensuring that a product or service meets specified requirements and quality standards.
Quarterly Business Review (QBR)
A meeting held every quarter between a company and its customers to discuss performance, goals, and future strategies.
Quick Ratio
A metric used to measure a company's growth efficiency by comparing revenue growth to revenue losses (churn).
Recurring Revenue
The portion of a company's revenue that is predictable, stable, and earned from ongoing customer subscriptions or repeat purchases.
Retention
The ability of a company to keep its customers or employees over time.
Run Rate
An estimate of a company's future performance based on its current financial data.
Runway
The amount of time a startup can continue operating before it runs out of money.
SaaS (Software as a Service)
A business model where software is provided on a subscription basis and hosted in the cloud.
Sandbox
A controlled environment used for testing new features, products, or business models.
Scalability
The ability of a business to grow and manage increased demand without compromising performance.
Scale-Up
A company that has found product-market fit and is now focusing on growing and expanding.
Scaling
The process of growing a business by increasing revenue while maintaining or reducing costs.
Scrum
An Agile framework used in project management to facilitate iterative development, allowing teams to deliver projects in small increments.
Seed Funding
The initial capital used to start a business, often provided by angel investors or family and friends.
Seed Investment
The initial funding used to launch a startup, typically from angel investors, accelerators, or early-stage venture capital.
Seed Round
An early stage of startup financing aimed at supporting product development and market research.
Series A Funding
The first significant round of venture capital financing, used to optimize a startup's user base and product offerings.
Series B Funding
The second round of venture capital financing used to expand a startup's market reach and scale operations.
Series C Funding
The third round of venture capital financing, used to scale operations and prepare for an exit strategy.
Shareholders
Individuals or entities that own shares in a company, giving them partial ownership and certain rights, such as voting on major company decisions.
Short-Term Loan
A loan that is scheduled to be repaid within a short period, typically less than a year.
Smart Money
Investment capital that comes with added value, such as mentorship, industry connections, or expertise.
Sprint
A short, time-boxed period in which a team works to complete a set amount of work.
Startup Ecosystem
The network of individuals, organizations, and resources that support and drive the growth of startups, including investors, accelerators, incubators, and mentors.
Startup Financing
The process of securing funds to start, grow, or scale a new business venture, often through equity, debt, or alternative sources.
Startup Funding
The capital provided to startups to help them launch, grow, and scale their business, typically coming in various stages such as seed, Series A, and beyond.
Stickiness
A measure of how effectively a product or service retains its users over time.
Stock Options
A form of equity compensation that gives employees the right to buy company stock at a set price.
Syndicate
A group of investors who pool their resources to invest in a startup.
Term Loan
A type of loan provided for a specific amount and period, with scheduled repayments.
Term Sheet
A non-binding agreement that outlines the key terms and conditions of an investment.
Tipping Point
The critical point at which a product or service gains significant traction or market adoption.
Total Addressable Market (TAM)
The total revenue opportunity available if a product or service achieved 100% market share.
Traction
Evidence that a startup's product or service is gaining market acceptance.
Unicorn
A privately held startup company valued at over billion.
User Acquisition Cost (UAC)
The total cost associated with acquiring a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses.
User-Generated Content (UGC)
Content created by users of a product or service, often shared publicly to promote engagement or build community.
Valuation
The process of determining the current worth of a company.
Value Proposition
A statement that explains how a product or service solves a problem, providing benefits to customers.
Venture Capital
A form of private equity financing provided by investors to startups and small businesses with high growth potential.
Venture Debt
A type of debt financing for startups, typically used in conjunction with equity financing.
Virality
The tendency of a product or service to be rapidly shared or spread among users.
Waterfall Methodology
A linear and sequential approach to project management where each phase must be completed before the next begins.
White Label
A product or service produced by one company that other companies rebrand and sell as their own.
Win-Loss Analysis
The process of evaluating why a company wins or loses sales opportunities to improve future sales strategies.
Workflow Automation
The use of technology to streamline and automate business processes, reducing manual work and improving efficiency.
Working Capital
The difference between a company's current assets and current liabilities, representing the liquidity available for day-to-day operations.
X-Factor
A unique quality or attribute that gives a product, service, or company a significant advantage over competitors.
Yellow Ocean Strategy
A business strategy that combines elements of both Blue Ocean and Red Ocean strategies to create a unique market position.
Yellow Pages Test
A test for evaluating the simplicity and clarity of a business name by imagining it in a directory like the Yellow Pages.
Yield
The income generated and realized from an investment, typically expressed as a percentage.
Yield Management
A pricing strategy that adjusts prices based on demand, supply, and customer behavior to maximize revenue.
Zebra Startup
A startup that focuses on profitability and solving real-world problems, in contrast to high-growth unicorns.
Zero to One
The concept of creating something entirely new that did not exist before, resulting in significant innovation.
Zero-Sum Game
A situation in which one participant's gain is exactly balanced by another participant's loss.
Zombie Startup
A startup that continues to operate without significant growth or the ability to attract new funding.