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Acqui-hire: When a company buys another company to hire its employees rather than its products or services.
Angel Investors: High-net-worth individuals who invest in early-stage startups in exchange for equity.
Beta Test: The final testing phase where users assess a product’s functionality, usability, and compatibility.
Bootstrapping: Funding a startup with personal money or contributions from friends and family.
Business Model: A plan for how a company will make a profit by offering products or services.
Business Plan: A roadmap outlining a startup’s goals and strategies.
Buyout: One company purchasing a controlling share of another company.
Cap Table: A list of a company’s securities and their owners.
Cash Flow: The movement of money in and out of a business.
Convertible Note: A loan to a startup that can be converted into equity.
Crowdfunding: Raising funds from a group of individuals.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The cost of acquiring a new customer.
Debt Financing: Raising capital by securing a loan.
Disruptive Innovation: An underrated product or service that takes over an industry.
Dividends: Payments made by a company to shareholders.
Drag-along Rights: Allowing majority shareholders to force minority shareholders to join in a sale or merger.
Due Diligence: An audit or review conducted by investors before investing.
Equity: Percentage ownership in a business.
Exit Strategy: A plan to dispose of an investment in a business.
Forecast: Projections of future business performance.
Growth Stage: Refining products, strategies, and seeking funding from VCs.
Ideation: Generating ideas and solutions.
Incubators: Organizations that help startups develop their business idea.
Initial Public Offering (IPO): Going public by offering shares to the public.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI): A measure of progress toward an objective.
Lean Startup: A method for building and adjusting a startup based on data.
Liquidation: Ending a business through the sale of assets.
Market Penetration: Increasing a product’s market share.
Mezzanine Financing: A mix of debt and equity financing.
Micro Venture Capital: Smaller venture firms investing in early-stage startups.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP): A basic version of a product used for testing.
Pivot: Changing business course based on user testing and analysis.
Preferred Stock: Shares with special privileges but no voting rights.
Proof of Concept (POC): Testing the feasibility of a business or design idea.
Profit Margin: A percentage measuring profitability relative to costs.
Recapitalization: Restructuring a company’s debt and equity mixture.
Runway: How long a business can sustain itself before running out of money.
Sales Funnel: A representation of the sales process.
Scalability: A business’s ability to grow and increase revenue.
Seed Funding Round: The first official equity funding stage.
Series B Funding: Funding for scaling up after establishing a user base.
Series C Funding: Funding for further development, expansion, or acquisitions.
Software as a Service (SaaS): Software hosted on the cloud, licensed via subscription.
Startup Capital: Funds needed to start a new company.
Target Market: The group of consumers a product or service is aimed at.
Term Sheet: A formal document outlining investment terms.
Unicorn: A privately held startup valued at over $1 billion.
Valuation: Determining a company’s worth based on market forces.
Venture Capitalist (VC): An investor providing funding to startups in exchange for equity.
Vesting: Earning the right to receive benefits over time.