Startup Jargon

The slang of the innovation economy.

This way, when a VC asks about the CAC and the MAU for your MVP, you’ll know WTH they’re talking about.

Term Definition
A/B Testing A method of comparing two versions of something (a webpage, copywriting, a graphic, etc.) to each other to determine which one performs better, often used to optimize conversion rates or user experience.
Above the fold (ATF) The part of a website that you see before scrolling. It's where important news stories are published. On websites, the “fold” is the bottom of a visitor’s view screen when they first arrive at a site.
Accelerator A program (e.g. Techstars) that provides startups with mentorship, education, and resources, often in exchange for equity, to help them grow faster and reach specific milestones.
Accessibility The design and development of products or services that are usable by all people, including those with disabilities, often involving guidelines, standards, and best practices for inclusivity.
Acqui-hire The acquisition of a company primarily for its talent rather than its products or services, often to bring specific skills or expertise into the acquiring company.
Activation The process of encouraging users to take a specific action that demonstrates engagement or commitment, such as completing a registration, making a purchase, or sharing content.
Ad rank The position of a pay-per-click ad on a search engine results page, in relation to other ads. In Google Ads, your ad rank depends on factors including your bid, the competitiveness of an auction, and the context of a person’s search.
Adjacent Innovation Leveraging the core business and value proposition of an organization in a new market space.
Affiliate Marketing A performance-based marketing strategy where businesses reward affiliates for driving traffic or sales through their marketing efforts.
Agile A flexible and iterative approach to project management and software development that emphasizes collaboration, adaptability, and delivering small, incremental improvements.
Analogy Thinking Applying learnings from adjacent categories or market spaces for new solutions.
Analytics The use of math, statistics, predictive modeling, and machine learning to find patterns and insights in data.
Angel Investor An individual investor who provides capital to a startup, often in the early stages, in exchange for equity or convertible debt, typically motivated by both financial return and/or personal interest in the founder(s).
Annual contract value (ACV) The average annualized revenue per customer contract (excluding any one-time fees).
API (Application Programming Interface) A set of rules and protocols that allow different software applications to communicate and interact with each other, often used to access services, data, or functions.
Attribution The identification of points in the customer journey that contribute to a conversion (called touchpoints).
Average revenue per user (ARPU) How much you earn for each customer you have. Calculated by dividing your total revenue during a specific period by the number of customers you have during that time.
B2B (Business-to-Business) Transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler.
B2C (Business-to-Consumer) Transactions between businesses and individual consumers.
Backlink A link from one website to another. There are two types: Inbound link (a link from another website to your own) and Outbound link (a link from your website to another).
Behavioral Targeting A marketing method that targets customers based on their previous online behavior, such as searches, purchases, and websites visited.
Beta Release A pre-release version of a product that is closer to completion, released to a wider audience for testing and feedback to identify and fix remaining issues.
Board of Directors A group of individuals elected by shareholders to oversee the management of a company, providing guidance, governance, and decision-making at the highest level.
Bootstrapping The process of funding a startup without external investment, relying solely on personal savings, revenue, or other internal sources like friends and family.
Bounce A single-page visit to a website where the user leaves without interacting with the page, often used as a metric to evaluate the relevance or quality of landing pages.
Bounce Rate The percentage of visitors who navigate away from a website after viewing only one page, often used to measure the effectiveness of a website.
Brand Equity The value of a brand, based on consumer perception and loyalty.
Breakthrough Innovation A type of innovation that leads to substantial improvements built upon new enabling technologies and/or business models.
Bridge Loan A short-term loan that helps a startup access money in between rounds of funding.
Burn The rate at which a company is spending its capital, often used to evaluate runway and sustainability, particularly for startups that are not yet profitable.
Burn Rate The rate at which a company is spending its capital, often used to gauge how long the company can operate before needing additional financing.
Business to consumer (B2C) A type of company that sells to people, not businesses or governments.
Buyout A common exit strategy that involves the purchase of a controlling stake in a company.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) The total cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing, sales, and other related expenses, often used to evaluate the efficiency and profitability of customer acquisition efforts.
CAC Payback Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Payback is a metric that measures the time it takes for a company to recoup the cost of acquiring a customer, often used in startups to understand efficiency and the effectiveness of sales and marketing strategies.
Cap Table A table (or spreadsheet) that shows the ownership stakes and equity distribution among the founders, investors, employees, and other stakeholders of a company.
Cashflow The movement of money in and out of a business, including income, expenses, investments, and financing, often used to evaluate liquidity, solvency, and financial health.
Churn The rate at which customers leave or stop using a product or service, often used as a metric to evaluate customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention efforts.
Churn Rate The percentage of customers who stop using a product during a given time period, often used to gauge customer satisfaction and product fit.
Click-Through Rate (CTR) The ratio of users who click on a specific link to the number of total users who view the page, email, or advertisement.
Cliff A specific point in time when a significant portion of vesting accelerates, often used in vesting schedules to ensure a minimum period of service or commitment.
Co-Working Space An office shared by employees from different companies, often used by startups to reduce costs.
Competitive advantage A unique advantage that allows a company to outperform its competitors, often derived from factors such as cost leadership, differentiation, innovation, or customer relationships.
Competitive Analysis Identifying competitors and evaluating their strategies to determine their strengths and weaknesses relative to one's own product or service.
Compilers Tools that translate high-level programming code into machine language or intermediate code that can be executed by a computer, often used to build and optimize software applications.
Concurrency The ability to perform multiple computations or processes simultaneously, often used to improve efficiency and responsiveness in multi-threaded or distributed systems.
Consumer products Products designed and marketed for individual consumers, often for personal or household use, such as electronics, clothing, or food items.
Content Marketing A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant content to attract a clearly defined audience.
Conversion Rate The percentage of visitors to a website that complete a desired goal, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
Cottage Business Startups that work best at a small scale, often operated from home.
Cross-Selling Selling an additional product or service to an existing customer.
Crowdfunding A form of funding where a company sources capital from a wide range of investors and clients, often through pre-orders or special offers.
Customer Development A systematic process of building and understanding customer relationships, often involving research, interviews, and feedback to identify needs, preferences, and opportunities.
Customer Discovery The process of identifying and understanding the needs and problems of
Customer Journey Mapping A visual representation of every experience a customer has with a business, used to understand and improve the customer experience.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) A prediction of the net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer.
Customer Retention Strategies and tactics businesses use to encourage customers to continue using or buying their products and services.
Customer Segmentation Dividing a customer base into groups of individuals that are similar in specific ways, such as age, gender, interests, and spending habits.
Data-Driven Marketing Using data and analytics to guide marketing strategies and make more informed decisions.
DAU (Daily Active Users) The number of unique users who engage with a product within a 24-hour period, often used as a key performance indicator for online services.
Demand Generation The focus on targeted marketing programs to drive awareness and interest in a company's products or services.
Disruption The act of creating a new market and value network that disrupts and eventually displaces established market leaders, often through innovative products or business models.
Dragon A startup that raises $1 billion in a single round of funding, symbolizing its potential for rapid growth and success.
Drip Marketing A communication strategy that sends, or "drips," a pre-written set of messages to customers or prospects over time.
Early Adopters The first customers to buy and use a new product, often considered key to a product's success.
Email Marketing The use of email to promote products or services and develop relationships with potential customers or clients.
Escape Velocity A term used to describe a company's momentum as it grows revenue and becomes self-sustaining without the need for additional financing.
Evangelists Passionate and enthusiastic users of a product, brand, or cause, often acting as advocates and influencers who spread positive word-of-mouth and help build a community.
Exit The process of selling or merging the company, often to a larger corporation or through an IPO, providing a financial return to the founders and investors.
Freemium A pricing strategy where basic services are provided for free with the option to purchase additional premium features or content, often used to attract users and encourage upgrades.
Geotargeting The practice of delivering content or advertisements to a user based on his or her geographic location.
Growth Hacking A creative and experimental approach to marketing that focuses on rapid growth using unconventional tactics, often leveraging technology, data, and viral mechanisms.
Guerrilla Marketing An unconventional marketing strategy that aims to achieve maximum results from minimal resources.
HAU (Hourly Active Users) The number of unique users who engage with a product within a one-hour period, often used as a key performance indicator for online services.
Heatmap A graphical representation of data where values are depicted by color, often used to analyze where users have clicked on a webpage.
Hockey Stick Growth A growth pattern that resembles a hockey stick, where a period of slow or stagnant growth is followed by a sudden and rapid increase, often seen in successful startups.
Hyper-Personalization Using data to provide more personalized and targeted products, services, or content to customers.
Inbound marketing A marketing approach that focuses on attracting customers through valuable and relevant content, often using channels such as blogs, social media, and search engine optimization.
Incubators Organizations that provide startups with support, mentorship, office space, and other resources to help them develop and succeed, often in the early stages.
Influencer Marketing A form of social media marketing involving endorsements and product placements from influencers, individuals who have a dedicated social following.
IPO The process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance.
Iteration The repeated process of testing, learning, and improving a product or service through incremental changes to reach a more refined version.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator) A specific and measurable metric that is used to track and evaluate the success of a particular business objective, activity, or initiative.
Landing Page A standalone web page created specifically for a marketing or advertising campaign, where a visitor "lands" after clicking on a link in an email or ad.
Lead Generation The process of attracting and converting strangers and prospects into someone who has indicated interest in a company's product or service.
Lean Startup A methodology for developing businesses and products that emphasizes rapid iteration and customer feedback, focusing on adaptability and efficiency by building a minimum viable product (MVP) and then learning and iterating.
LTV (Lifetime Value) The total revenue that a company expects to earn from a customer over the entire duration of their relationship, often used to evaluate the long-term value of customer acquisition.
Market Penetration The extent to which a product is recognized and bought by customers in a particular market.
Market Segmentation Dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers who have different needs, characteristics, or behaviors.
Marketing Strategy A plan for promoting products or services to reach target consumers.
MAU (Monthly Active Users) The number of unique users who engage with a product within a 30-day period, often used as a key performance indicator for online services.
Mobile Marketing Multi-channel online marketing technique focused on reaching a specific audience on their smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices.
MVP (Minimum Viable Product) A version of a product with just enough features to satisfy early adopters and gather feedback for further development.
Net Promoter Score (NPS) A measure of customer loyalty, calculated by asking customers how likely they are to recommend a company's product or service.
Omnichannel Marketing A multi-channel approach to sales that seeks to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience, whether they're shopping online, from a mobile device, or in a store.
Outbound Marketing Traditional marketing methods that push messages to a broad audience, often using channels such as advertising, direct mail, telemarketing, and trade shows.
PaaS (Platform as a Service) A cloud computing service that provides a platform for developers to build, run, and manage applications without worrying about underlying infrastructure.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) An online advertising model where advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked.
Pitch Deck A presentation used by startups to pitch their business idea, plan, and potential to investors, typically including slides on the problem, solution, market, team, and financial projections.
Pivot A significant change in a startup's business model, product, or target market, often in response to feedback or changing market conditions.
Post-Money Valuation The valuation of a company after receiving external investment or financing, including the value of the new capital, often used to calculate ownership percentages.
Pre-Money Valuation The valuation of a company before receiving external investment or financing, often used to determine the price and terms of an investment round.
Pre-Seed Round The initial funding stage to help the entrepreneur take their idea from concept to start building the product. It often covers market research, building a prototype, and other early-stage development.
Product-Market Fit The alignment between a product and its target market, where the product meets a strong market demand and satisfies the needs and wants of customers.
Retention The ability to keep customers engaged and continuing to use a product or service over time, often a key focus for subscription-based businesses or recurring revenue models.
Retention Curve A graphical representation of the rate at which customers continue to engage with a product or service over time.
Retention Rate The percentage of customers a company retains over a specific time period, excluding new customers.
Revenue The total income generated by a business from its sales, services, or other activities, before deducting expenses, often used as a key measure of growth and success.
ROI (Return on Investment) A measure of the profitability and efficiency of an investment, calculated as the ratio of the net profit to the initial cost, often used to evaluate and compare investment opportunities.
Run Rate A financial projection based on current performance, often used to estimate future revenue or expenses by extrapolating from a specific period, such as a month or quarter.
Runway The amount of time a startup has before it must either achieve profitability or secure additional financing, often measured in months.
SaaS (Software as a Service) A software licensing model where users access software over the internet, typically through a subscription, rather than installing it on their devices.
Sales Funnel A step-by-step process that allows you to bring your potential customer one step closer to your offer and a buying decision through a series of marketing actions.
Scalability The ability of a startup to grow and handle increased demand efficiently without a proportional increase in costs or resources.
Seed An early stage of venture capital funding that provides capital to startups to prove their concept, build a prototype, or launch their product, often considered the first formal round of investment.
Seed Round The first official equity funding stage. It typically represents the first official money that a business venture or enterprise raises. It's used to prove a concept, demonstrate feasibility, and assess product-market fit.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) The practice of optimizing a website or online content to improve its visibility in search engine results, often through keyword targeting, quality content, and backlinks.
Series A Often considered the first significant round of business financing, Series A is used to optimize products/services and market fit. Investors look for a strategy rather than just an idea at this stage.
Series B This round is about taking businesses to the next level, past the development stage. Companies that have gone through the seed and Series A phases have developed significant traction and are looking to scale.
Series C At this stage, companies are looking to scale quickly and effectively. Series C funding is used to scale operations, entering into new markets, preparing for an acquisition, or preparing for an IPO.
Social Proof A psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior, often used in marketing to show popularity or trust in a product or service.
Solopreneur An entrepreneur who works alone, running their business single-handedly.
Stack The set of technologies, programming languages, frameworks, and tools used to build and run a software application or system.
Sweat Equity The value added to a business or project through human effort, hard work, and expertise, often in lieu of or in addition to financial compensation.
SWOT Analysis Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats within an organization.
Target Market The specific group of potential customers that a product or service is designed to reach, often defined by demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and needs.
Term Sheet A document that outlines the key terms and conditions of an investment, often used as a basis for negotiating and formalizing a deal between investors and a startup.
The Chasm A metaphorical gap in the technology adoption lifecycle that represents the challenge of moving from early adopters to the early majority, often a critical phase for startups.
Traction The momentum and progress that a startup has achieved in the market, often demonstrated through key metrics such as user growth, revenue, partnerships, or customer engagement.
Unicorn A startup that has reached a valuation of $1 billion or more, often seen as a symbol of success and rarity in the startup ecosystem.
Usability The ease with which users can learn, use, and navigate a product or service, often evaluated through testing, feedback, and metrics such as task success, error rates, and satisfaction.
User Acquisition The process of gaining new users or customers, often through marketing and advertising.
User Engagement The extent to which customers interact with a product, often used as a measure of product success and customer satisfaction.
User experience (UX) The overall experience and satisfaction that users have when interacting with a product or service, often involving aspects such as usability, design, functionality, and emotions.
User interface (UI) The visual and interactive components of a software application or website that users see and interact with, including layout, buttons, menus, and graphics.
Validation The process of testing and confirming that a business idea, product, or service meets the needs and wants of a target market.
Value Proposition The unique value that a product or service provides to customers, often articulated as the key benefit or solution that sets it apart from competitors.
VC (Venture Capitalist) An investor who provides capital to startups or small businesses that have potential for long-term growth. Venture capitalists typically invest in exchange for equity in the company and may also provide expertise and guidance.
Venture Capital A form of private equity financing that provides capital to startups and emerging companies with high growth potential, often in exchange for equity and active involvement in the business.
Vesting The process of earning rights to stock or other forms of compensation over time, often used to incentivize long-term commitment and performance among employees and founders.
Viral Marketing A marketing strategy that relies on individuals sharing a message or product, often through social media.
Wantrepreneur A person who aspires to be an entrepreneur but has not yet taken the steps to launch a business, often stuck in the planning phase.
Wireframing The process of creating a visual blueprint or schematic for a website or application, often used to plan and communicate the layout, functionality, and user flow.
Word of Mouth Marketing A marketing method that relies on casual social interactions to promote a product, often considered one of the most valuable forms of marketing.