Startup and VC Glossary

A statistical method used in marketing and computer science to compare two versions of a webpage or app to determine which one performs better in achieving a specific goal.

Usually the first significant round of venture capital financing after seed funding. Typically ranges from $2 million to $15 million and focuses on companies with proven product-market fit.

A fixed-term program that provides startups with mentorship, education, and resources, typically culminating in a "demo day" where startups pitch to investors. Unlike incubators, accelerators work with existing companies for a set timeframe.

An individual or entity that meets specific SEC requirements for net worth ($1 million excluding primary residence) or income ($200,000 individual/$300,000 joint for past two years), allowing them to invest in certain unregistered securities.

The purchase of one company by another, either through stock purchase, asset purchase, or merger. A common exit strategy for startups

A written document that modifies, clarifies, or adds to an existing agreement, commonly used in investment contracts and term sheets.

Stock or options granted to company advisors, typically vesting over time, in exchange for their guidance and expertise.

Advisory shares are a form of equity compensation that early-stage startups grant to advisors in exchange for their expertise, guidance, and network. They are a way for startups to attract experienced advisors and align their incentives with the company's success, especially when cash flow might be limited.

A type of AI that can understand or learn any intellectual task that a human being can. It's distinct from narrow AI, which is designed for specific tasks.

The simulation of human intelligence processes by computer systems. These processes include learning, reasoning, perception, and self-correction.

A step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or achieving a specific task, often used in computing to define processes.

• In tech, especially in machine learning or AI, it often refers to a parameter in algorithms or models.
• In software development, it can denote an early stage of development where the software is being tested internally.

Any investment that falls outside traditional asset classes (stocks, bonds, cash). Venture capital is considered an alternative investment.

The discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data. Often refers to business analytics where data is used to drive business decisions.

Typically high-net-worth individuals who invest their own money in early-stage startups, typically in exchange for equity. Often provide between $25,000 and $500,000 of capital.

Provisions that protect investors from equity dilution when new shares are issued at a lower price than in previous rounds. Common forms include full-ratchet and weighted average adjustments.

• API (Application Programming Interface): A set of protocols and tools for building software and applications, allowing different software to interact with each other. It defines how software components should interact.
• AGI (Artificial General Intelligence): A type of AI that can understand or learn any intellectual task that a human being can. It's distinct from narrow AI, which is designed for specific tasks.
• Alpha:
  • In tech, especially in machine learning or AI, it often refers to a parameter in algorithms or models.
  • In software development, it can denote an early stage of development where the software is being tested internally.
• Algorithm: A step-by-step procedure for solving a problem or achieving a specific task, often used in computing to define processes.
• Analytics: The discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data. Often refers to business analytics where data is used to drive business decisions.
• App (Application): A software program or a piece of software designed to fulfill a particular purpose, such as productivity or entertainment, running on mobile devices, computers, or other electronic devices.
• AR (Augmented Reality): Technology that overlays digital information on an image of the real world, enhancing what we see, hear, feel, etc.
• API Gateway: A server that acts as an entry point for a collection of backend services. It typically handles tasks like request/response routing, authentication, monitoring, and rate limiting.
• API-First: A design philosophy where APIs are designed before or simultaneously with the development of other parts of the system, emphasizing reusability and integration.
• App Store: A type of digital distribution platform for computer or mobile applications, often run by the operating system vendor, like Apple's App Store or Google Play.
• Application Server: A server that hosts applications and delivers content to client devices over the internet, handling processes, security, load balancing, etc.
• AI (Artificial Intelligence): The simulation of human intelligence processes by computer systems. These processes include learning, reasoning, perception, and self-correction.
• Autocomplete: A feature in software where the program predicts user input and completes it automatically, often seen in text editors, search engines, or coding environments.
• Automation: The use of technology to perform tasks without human intervention. This term covers a wide range of applications from simple scripts to complex systems like industrial robots or autonomous vehicles.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services): A subsidiary of Amazon providing on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs on a subscription basis.
• A/B Testing: A statistical method used in marketing and computer science to compare two versions of a webpage or app to determine which one performs better in achieving a specific goal.
• API Security: Measures taken to protect APIs from unauthorized access or malicious attacks, ensuring data integrity, confidentiality, and availability.
• Asynchronous: A programming paradigm where operations do not need to wait for the results of a previous operation before continuing, often used to improve application performance, responsiveness, or scalability.
• Accelerator - A fixed-term program that provides startups with mentorship, education, and resources, typically culminating in a "demo day" where startups pitch to investors. Unlike incubators, accelerators work with existing companies for a set timeframe.
• Accredited Investor - An individual or entity that meets specific SEC requirements for net worth ($1 million excluding primary residence) or income ($200,000 individual/$300,000 joint for past two years), allowing them to invest in certain unregistered securities.
• Acquisition - The purchase of one company by another, either through stock purchase, asset purchase, or merger. A common exit strategy for startups.
• Angel Investor - High-net-worth individuals who invest their own money in early-stage startups, typically in exchange for equity. Often provide between $25,000 and $500,000 of capital.
• Anti-Dilution Protection - Provisions that protect investors from equity dilution when new shares are issued at a lower price than in previous rounds. Common forms include full-ratchet and weighted average adjustments.
• Ask - The amount of funding a startup is seeking to raise in a financing round.
• Assets Under Management (AUM) - The total market value of investments that a venture capital firm manages on behalf of investors.
• Attribution - The practice of crediting specific partners or strategies for investment returns, helping VCs understand which investments and partners are most successful.
• A Round (Series A) - Usually the first significant round of venture capital financing after seed funding. Typically ranges from $2 million to $15 million and focuses on companies with proven product-market fit.
• ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) - A metric used primarily in SaaS businesses to show the money that comes in every year for the life of a subscription (or contract).
• Addendum - A written document that modifies, clarifies, or adds to an existing agreement, commonly used in investment contracts and term sheets.
• Advisory Shares - Stock or options granted to company advisors, typically vesting over time, in exchange for their guidance and expertise.
• Alpha - The excess return of an investment relative to a benchmark index. In VC, it represents the value created above what could have been achieved through passive investing.
• Alternative Investment - Any investment that falls outside traditional asset classes (stocks, bonds, cash). Venture capital is considered an alternative investment.

A design philosophy where APIs are designed before or simultaneously with the development of other parts of the system, emphasizing reusability and integration.

A server that acts as an entry point for a collection of backend services. It typically handles tasks like request/response routing, authentication, monitoring, and rate limiting.

Measures taken to protect APIs from unauthorized access or malicious attacks, ensuring data integrity, confidentiality, and availability.

A software program or a piece of software designed to fulfill a particular purpose, such as productivity or entertainment, running on mobile devices, computers, or other electronic devices.

A type of digital distribution platform for computer or mobile applications, often run by the operating system vendor, like Apple's App Store or Google Play.

A server that hosts applications and delivers content to client devices over the internet, handling processes, security, load balancing, etc.

Technology that overlays digital information on an image of the real world, enhancing what we see, hear, feel, etc.

A metric used primarily in SaaS businesses to show the money that comes in every year for the life of a subscription (or contract).

Here's a breakdown of what ARR means:

• Recurring: ARR focuses on revenue that is expected to continue coming in regularly, such as subscription fees.
• Annual: It normalizes revenue on an annual basis, even if subscriptions are billed monthly or quarterly.
• Predictable: ARR helps businesses forecast future revenue and make informed decisions about growth and investments.

The total market value of investments that a venture capital firm manages on behalf of investors.

A programming paradigm where operations do not need to wait for the results of a previous operation before continuing, often used to improve application performance, responsiveness, or scalability.

The practice of crediting specific partners or strategies for investment returns, helping VCs understand which investments and partners are most successful.

A feature in software where the program predicts user input and completes it automatically, often seen in text editors, search engines, or coding environments.

The use of technology to perform tasks without human intervention. This term covers a wide range of applications from simple scripts to complex systems like industrial robots or autonomous vehicles.

A subsidiary of Amazon providing on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs on a subscription basis.

A cloud service model where developers can connect their applications to backend cloud storage, user management, push notifications, and more, without having to manage the backend themselves.

The part of a software application that the user doesn't interact with directly. It manages data storage, business logic, and everything that powers the frontend (user interface).

Key performance indicators or companies used to evaluate a startup's performance. Often used in VC due diligence to compare growth rates, margins, and valuations.

Common types of startup benchmarks:

• Financial benchmarks: Revenue growth, profitability, burn rate, runway, customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLTV).
• Operational benchmarks: Employee productivity, customer satisfaction, website traffic, conversion rates.
• Growth benchmarks: User growth, market share, fundraising milestones.

Beta:

In software development, a pre-release version of software for testing purposes, often distributed to a limited audience outside the developer team.

In finance or economics, a measure of the volatility, or systematic risk, of a security or a portfolio in comparison to the market as a whole.

Refers to the massive volume of structured and unstructured data that is so large it's difficult to process with traditional database and software techniques. It's analyzed to reveal patterns, trends, and associations.

The smallest unit of digital information, represented as a binary digit of either 0 or 1.

A strategy of prioritizing rapid growth over efficiency, typically involving raising large amounts of capital to quickly capture market share and establish network effects

Key characteristics:

• Speed as a competitive advantage: Blitzscaling emphasizes rapid execution and growth, even at the expense of short-term efficiency.
• Embrace uncertainty: Blitzscaling requires a willingness to make decisions with incomplete information and adapt quickly to changing circumstances.
• Prioritize growth over profits: Early-stage blitzscaling often involves prioritizing market share and user growth over profitability.
• Culture of experimentation: A willingness to try new things, learn from failures, and iterate quickly is essential for successful blitzscaling.
• Fundraising is crucial: Blitzscaling typically requires significant capital investment to fuel rapid growth.

A distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data.

A wireless technology standard used for exchanging data over short distances (using short-wavelength UHF radio waves in the ISM band from 2.4 to 2.485 GHz) from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks.

The contractual right to attend and participate in board meetings without voting privileges, often granted to investors who don't have a board seat.

Key characteristics:

• Non-voting: Observers can attend and participate in board meetings but cannot vote on resolutions.
• Informational: The primary role is to observe and gather information about the company's performance and strategic direction.
• Advisory: Observers may offer insights and advice, but the board is not obligated to act on them.
• Contractual: The rights and responsibilities of a board observer are typically outlined in a contractual agreement between the company and the observer's appointing party (e.g., an investor).
• Limited liability: Observers generally do not have the same fiduciary duties and liabilities as directors.

The governing body of a corporation, typically including founders, investor representatives, and independent directors. VC-backed companies usually grant board seats to lead investors. The BOD is responsible for setting the company's overall direction, approving major initiatives, and ensuring that the company is being run in the best interests of its shareholders. Typically includes founders, investor representatives, and independent directors. VC-backed companies usually grant board seats to lead investors.

The practice of founding and building a company using personal finances or operating revenues rather than external funding. Entrepreneurs who bootstrap retain maximum equity and control.

A point of congestion in a system that occurs when workloads arrive too quickly for the system to handle, causing delays.

The point at which total revenue equals total costs, resulting in zero profit or loss. Important milestone for startups seeking additional funding.

Key characteristics:

• Financial stability: Indicates the business can cover all its expenses with the revenue it generates.
• No profit, no loss: At the break-even point, the company is neither making a profit nor incurring a loss.
• Important for planning: Helps startups understand the minimum sales volume needed to cover costs and become profitable.
• Influences funding: Reaching the break-even point can be a key factor in attracting additional funding from investors.
• Dynamic: The break-even point can change over time as costs and revenue fluctuate.

A short-term financing used to "bridge" the gap between larger equity rounds or to reach a significant milestone. Often structured as convertible notes.

A software system that provides a way for businesses to define, manage, and execute business rules that drive and control their business operations.

An error, flaw, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that causes it to produce an incorrect or unexpected result, or to behave in unintended ways.

The process of converting source code files into standalone software artifacts, such as libraries, applications, or binary files, ready for deployment or distribution.

The rate at which a company spends its cash reserves, typically expressed monthly (e.g., "monthly burn rate of $100,000"). Often split into "gross burn" (total monthly spending) and "net burn" (monthly loss/cash outflow). It's a crucial metric for startups to track, as it indicates how long they can operate with their current funding. Often split into "gross burn" (total monthly spending) and "net burn" (monthly loss/cash outflow).

Strategic partnerships and relationships that create value for a startup, often through revenue generation, market access, or product integration

A strategic management template for developing new or documenting existing business models, popular among startups for pitching to investors.

Terms or phrases, often from tech, that are trendy or fashionable but can be vague or overused, sometimes to the point of losing their original meaning.

A policy where employees bring personally owned devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones) to their workplace, and use those devices to access company resources.

An intermediate code that is the output of compiling source code and input to the virtual machine or interpreter, which then translates the bytecode into machine code or further interprets it.

• C (Programming Language): A general-purpose, procedural computer programming language designed to provide low-level access to memory, support for structured programming, and efficient use of hardware resources.
• C++: An extension of the C programming language, providing object-oriented, low-level, and generic programming features, with significant applications in system/software development.
• Cache: A high-speed memory used to store frequently accessed or recently used data, to speed up subsequent access.
• CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart): A type of challenge-response test used in computing to determine whether the user is human or a bot.
• CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery or Deployment): Methodologies aimed at improving software delivery through automation. CI involves regularly integrating code changes into a central repository, while CD focuses on automatically building, testing, and deploying those code changes to selected infrastructure.
• Cloud: A network of remote servers, typically operated by a third party, providing access to software, storage, and processing power over the internet.
• Cloud Computing: The on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user.
• CLI (Command Line Interface): A user interface where the user responds to a visual prompt by typing in commands on a keyboard. Linux/Unix systems often use CLIs for system administration.
• CMS (Content Management System): Software that allows users to create, manage, and modify content on a website without needing to know how to code.
• Container: A standard unit of software that packages up code and all its dependencies so the application runs quickly and reliably from one computing environment to another.
• CRM (Customer Relationship Management): Systems that help businesses manage interactions with customers and data throughout the customer lifecycle, with a goal of improving business relationships.
• Crowdsourcing: The practice of obtaining information, input, or services from a large, undefined group of people, typically via the internet.
• CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): A style sheet language used for describing the look and formatting of documents written in markup languages like HTML.
• Cybersecurity: The practice of protecting internet-connected systems, including hardware, software, and data, from attack, damage, or unauthorized access.
• Cyberspace: A metaphorical environment where digital activities happen, encompassing the internet, computer systems, and digital data.
• Cycle:
  • In computing, it often refers to the sequence of operations in a processor.
  • In software development, it can refer to development cycles or life cycles of products.
• Cap Table (Capitalization Table) - A spreadsheet or table showing the equity ownership capitalization for a company, including all shareholders, their ownership percentages, and types of securities held.
• Carried Interest - The share of profits that venture capital fund managers receive as compensation, typically 20% of the fund's profits after returning invested capital to limited partners.
• Churn Rate - The percentage rate at which customers stop subscribing to a service or employees leave a company over a given period. Critical metric for SaaS startups.
• Cliff - The period an employee must wait before their stock options or restricted stock begin to vest. Typically one year for a four-year vesting schedule.
• Convertible Note - A form of short-term debt that converts into equity, typically in conjunction with a future financing round. Popular in seed-stage funding.
• Co-investment - When multiple venture capital firms or investors participate in the same funding round.
• Covenant - Legal promises in financing agreements that require companies to meet specific requirements (positive covenants) or restrict certain activities (negative covenants).
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) - The total cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses. Key metric for evaluating business efficiency.
• Cohort Analysis - The study of groups of users/customers who share common characteristics over a specific period, used to understand behavior patterns and improve metrics.
• Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) - Investment funds set up by large corporations to invest in startups, often for strategic as well as financial returns.
• Cram-Down Round - A financing round where existing investors face severe dilution unless they participate, often due to a lower valuation than previous rounds.
• Cross-over Investors - Investment firms that typically invest in public markets but also make late-stage private investments in companies approaching IPO.
• Coverage Ratio - Financial metric comparing a company's operating earnings to its fixed costs, used to evaluate financial health and runway.

• Dashboard: A user interface that displays graphical representations of data, providing an overview of key performance indicators, metrics, or processes in one place.
• Data Center: A facility composed of networked computers, storage systems, and networking equipment used to gather, store, process, distribute, or allow access to large amounts of data.
• Database: An organized collection of data, typically stored and accessed electronically from a computer system. Common types include relational databases (SQL), NoSQL, and graph databases.
• Data Mining: The process of discovering patterns and knowledge from large amounts of data. It's used to extract information from data and transform it into an understandable structure for further use.
• Data Science: An interdisciplinary field that uses algorithms, methods, and systems to extract knowledge from data in various forms, either structured or unstructured.
• Data Warehouse: A large store of data accumulated from a wide range of sources within a company and used to guide management decisions.
• DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service): A type of malicious attempt to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service, or network by overwhelming the target or its surrounding infrastructure with a flood of Internet traffic.
• Debugging: The process of detecting, locating, and fixing errors in computer program code or systems.
• DevOps: A set of practices that combines software development (Dev) and IT operations (Ops). It aims to shorten the systems development life cycle and provide continuous delivery with high software quality.
• Digital Marketing: Marketing that utilizes digital channels (websites, social media, email, search engines, and more) to connect with current and prospective customers.
• Digital Native: A person who has grown up with access to digital technology, and who is familiar with its use.
• Digital Transformation: The integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how it operates and delivers value to customers.
• DNS (Domain Name System): A hierarchical decentralized naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network.
• Docker: An open-source platform that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of applications using containerization technology.
• Domain:
  • In internet terms, a domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control on the Internet.
  • In programming, a domain can refer to a specific area of knowledge or activity.
• Download: The process of receiving data from a remote system, typically a server, over a network.
• DRM (Digital Rights Management): Technologies that control access to copyrighted material and prevent unauthorized distribution or use of this material.
• Dropbox: A file hosting service that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, and client software.
• DSL (Digital Subscriber Line): A family of technologies that provide digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network.
• Dilution: The decrease in existing shareholders' ownership percentage in a company upon the issuance of new shares. It can occur when new equity is issued, reducing the proportionate ownership of existing shareholders.
• Debt to Asset Ratio: A financial ratio that indicates the percentage of a company's assets that are financed with debt. It's calculated by dividing total debt by total assets and shows the extent to which borrowed funds finance a company's operations.
• Data Room: A secure, virtual or physical space where confidential business information is stored and accessed by limited, authorized people, typically for due diligence purposes during mergers, acquisitions, or funding rounds.
• Debt Financing: Raising money by selling debt instruments to investors. The issuer (the company) is required to repay the debt, plus interest, over time. This contrasts with equity financing, where funds are raised by selling ownership stakes.
• Depreciation: An accounting method of allocating the cost of a tangible asset over its useful life. It reflects the reduction in value of an asset due to wear and tear, age, or obsolescence. Common methods include straight-line, declining balance, and units of production.
• DCF (Discounted Cash Flow): A valuation method used to estimate the value of an investment based on its future cash flows. It involves projecting future cash flows and discounting them back to the present value using a discount rate that reflects the risk of the cash flows.
• DApp (Decentralized Application): An application that runs on a decentralized network, typically a blockchain, and is not controlled by a single entity. DApps often operate on smart contracts.
• Dark Pattern: A user interface design choice that benefits the business at the expense of the user, often through misleading or manipulative tactics.
• Dark Pool: A private exchange or forum for trading securities that is not accessible by the investing public. Often used for large trades with less market impact.
• DDoS Mitigation: Techniques and services designed to protect against and mitigate the effects of Distributed Denial of Service attacks by filtering out malicious traffic.
• Deduplication: The process of removing redundant data, typically in storage systems, to improve efficiency and reduce storage needs.
• Dependency: In software, a component or module that another component relies on to function properly. Managing dependencies is crucial in software development.
• DevSecOps: An extension of DevOps that integrates security as an ongoing, automated part of the software delivery process. It aims to make security a shared responsibility among development, IT operations, and security professionals.
• Digital Footprint: The collection of personal data that individuals leave behind while using the internet, including social media posts, comments, likes, shares, and browsing history.
• Digital Twin: A virtual model of a physical object or system, used to simulate real-world situations for testing, monitoring, or predictive maintenance.
• Direct-to-Consumer (D2C): A business model where companies sell directly to the end consumer without intermediaries like retailers.
• Deal Flow - The rate at which investment opportunities come to a venture capital firm for consideration. Quality deal flow is crucial for VC success.
• Down Round - A financing round where a company's valuation is lower than in previous rounds, resulting in dilution for existing investors and often requiring anti-dilution provisions.
• Dragon - A venture investment that returns more than the entire fund. More rare and valuable than a "unicorn" as it can make a fund successful regardless of other investments.
• Dry Powder - Committed but undeployed capital that VC firms have available for investments or follow-on rounds.
• Due Diligence - The comprehensive investigation and evaluation process that investors undertake before making an investment, including review of financials, legal documents, market position, and team.
• SAFE (Delayed Agreement for Future Equity) - A financing instrument created by Y Combinator that gives investors the right to future equity without debt or requiring a price per share when invested.
• Deck - A presentation (usually in PowerPoint or similar) that startups use to pitch to potential investors, typically including business model, market size, traction, team, and fundraising goals.
• Distribution - The process of returning capital and profits to limited partners in a venture fund, either through cash or stock after a portfolio company exit.
• Double-Dip - When an investor gets multiple preferential returns on their investment, such as participating preferred stock that gets both a liquidation preference and participates in the remaining proceeds.
• Draw Down - When a VC firm calls capital from its limited partners to make investments or pay expenses, also known as a "capital call."

• E-commerce (Electronic Commerce): Buying and selling of goods or services using the internet, as well as the transfer of money and data to execute these transactions.
• EDI (Electronic Data Interchange): The electronic interchange of business information using a standardized format; a method of exchanging business documents with external entities, such as customers or suppliers.
• Edge Computing: A distributed computing paradigm that brings computation and data storage closer to the location where it is needed, to improve response times and save bandwidth.
• Encryption: The process of converting data into a code to prevent unauthorized access. It's crucial in cybersecurity for protecting sensitive information.
• Enterprise:
  • In business, refers to a large organization or company, often with multiple divisions or subsidiaries.
  • In tech, "enterprise software" refers to applications designed for use by large organizations, typically requiring significant resources for deployment and maintenance.
• ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning): A type of software that organizations use to manage day-to-day business activities, including accounting, procurement, project management, risk management, and compliance.
• Ether: The cryptocurrency used within the Ethereum network.
• Ethereum: An open-source, blockchain-based distributed computing platform featuring smart contract functionality. It's used for creating decentralized applications (dApps) and has its own cryptocurrency, Ether.
• ETL (Extract, Transform, Load): A process in data warehousing that involves extracting data from various sources, transforming it to fit operational needs, and loading it into the end target database.
• E-wallet: An electronic or digital wallet where users can conduct electronic transactions, including payments and transfers. It can also store digital currency like cryptocurrencies.
• Exit Strategy: In business, a plan for how an owner or investor will get their investment out of a company. Common exit strategies include selling the business, merging with another company, or going public through an IPO.
• Equity: Ownership interest in a company; stock represents a claim on a portion of its assets and earnings. In finance, equity can also refer to the value of an investment in an asset after deducting liabilities.
• Equity Financing: The process of raising capital through the sale of shares in a company. It involves giving up ownership in exchange for investment.
• Escrow: A financial arrangement where a third party holds and regulates payment of funds required for a transaction between two parties.
• ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance): Criteria used to evaluate a company's operations in terms of its environmental impact, social responsibility, and governance practices, influencing investment decisions.
• eSignature (Electronic Signature): A method of signing electronic documents, ensuring their integrity and authenticity, using technologies like digital signatures, which are legally recognized in many jurisdictions.
• Exception Handling: A programming construct in most modern programming languages where run-time errors can be caught and handled gracefully instead of crashing the program.
• Executable: A file containing binary code that can be directly executed by the computer's processor, typically resulting from compiling source code.
• Expert System: A type of artificial intelligence which attempts to emulate the decision-making ability of a human expert in a particular field.
• Export:
  • In computing, the act of transferring data from one program to another or from one system to another.
  • In international trade, selling goods and services produced in the home country to other markets.
• EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization): A measure of a company's operating performance, calculated as revenue minus expenses excluding tax, interest, depreciation, and amortization. It's used to analyze and compare profitability between companies and industries as it eliminates the effects of financing and accounting decisions.
• Economies of Scale: The cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, with cost per unit of output generally decreasing with increasing scale. This can occur because of bulk purchasing, managerial specialization, technological investment, etc., leading to lower average costs of production.
• EIR (Entrepreneur-in-Residence): A position where an experienced entrepreneur is hired, usually by a venture capital firm, accelerator, or incubator, to develop new business ideas, mentor startups, or create new ventures within the organization. The goal is often to scout or develop new investment opportunities or innovations.
• Early Stage - The initial phase of a company's growth, typically covering seed and Series A rounds, when the company is developing its product and finding product-market fit.
• Earnout - A contractual provision stating that the seller of a business will receive additional future compensation based on the business achieving certain financial goals, commonly used in acquisitions.
• Employee Stock Option Pool (ESOP) - A portion of a company's equity reserved for employee compensation, typically 10-20% of fully diluted shares. Also called an "option pool."
• Enterprise Value (EV) - The total value of a company, calculated as market capitalization plus debt, minority interest and preferred shares, minus total cash and cash equivalents.
• Elevator Pitch - A brief, persuasive speech that outlines a business idea in the time it takes to ride an elevator (typically 30-60 seconds), used by entrepreneurs to quickly interest potential investors.
• Exclusivity - A period during which a company agrees not to seek investment from or engage in acquisition talks with other parties, common during due diligence.
• Exit Multiple - The ratio between a company's exit valuation and a key metric (usually revenue or EBITDA), used to evaluate investment returns and compare exits.
• Evergreen Fund - A venture capital fund that reinvests its returns into new investments rather than distributing them to limited partners, operating without a fixed termination date.
• Extension Round - Additional funding raised as an extension to a previous round, usually on the same terms, to provide additional runway before a larger fundraise.
• Equal Treatment - A provision ensuring all investors in the same class of shares receive the same rights and privileges, often included in investment agreements.

• Feature Creep: The ongoing expansion of a product's scope, often adding new features during development that go beyond the original project plan, potentially leading to delays, increased costs, or a product that's unfocused or overcomplicated.
• Firewall: A network security system, either hardware- or software-based, that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on previously established security policies.
• Firmware: Permanent software programmed into a read-only memory that controls various aspects of a hardware device. Unlike software, firmware can't be easily changed or removed by the end-user.
• Float:
  • In finance, it refers to the number of shares available for trading by the general public, excluding shares held by company insiders or restricted from trading.
  • In programming, a data type representing real numbers with fractional components.
• FOSS (Free and Open Source Software): Software that's both free in cost and open in its source code, allowing users to run, copy, distribute, study, change, and improve the software.
• Frontend: The part of a software application or website that users interact with directly, typically what they see and interact with on their devices.
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol): A standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet.
• Function:
  • In programming, a block of organized, reusable code that is used to perform a single, related action or computation.
  • In mathematics or economics, a relation or expression involving one or more variables.
• Fusion:
  • In computing, often refers to the integration or merging of different technologies or data sets, like data fusion in AI.
  • In nuclear physics, the process of combining lighter atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus, releasing energy.
• Future-proofing: Designing or modifying systems, products, or infrastructure in such a way that they can withstand future changes in technology, user demands, or environmental conditions without becoming obsolete.
• FV (Future Value): The value of an asset or cash at a specified date in the future, based on the time value of money. It's calculated using compound interest principles.

• Fiduciary: A person or organization legally appointed and authorized to act for another under a duty to act solely for the benefit of that party, often in managing assets or finances.
• Fiscal Policy: Government spending policies that influence macroeconomic conditions, aimed at influencing the economy through changes in government taxes or spending.
• Fixed Costs: Business expenses that are not dependent on the level of goods or services produced by the business. They remain constant within a relevant range and can include rent, salaries, insurance, etc.
• Flash Crash: A very rapid, deep, and sudden stock market crash driven by high-frequency trading algorithms or other automated trading systems.
• Forex (Foreign Exchange Market): The market where currencies are traded. It's the largest and most liquid financial market in the world.
• Franchise: A business model where a company (the franchisor) grants another party (the franchisee) the right to use its brand, business model, and intellectual property in exchange for fees.
• Fungible: The property of a good or a commodity whose individual units are essentially interchangeable, like money or shares in a company.
• Fundamentals: The qualitative and quantitative information about a company or market used to determine its financial or economic value, often used in stock analysis.
• FoF (Fund of Funds): An investment strategy of holding a portfolio of other investment funds rather than investing directly in stocks, bonds, or other securities. This can provide diversification, expertise, and access to a broader range of investment strategies.
• Friends and Family: In startup financing, this refers to early-stage funding where entrepreneurs raise capital from people they know personally before seeking outside investment. It's often the first round of funding for new ventures.
• Fiduciary Duty: A legal or ethical relationship of confidence or trust between two or more parties, most commonly a fiduciary or trustee and a principal or beneficiary. It requires the fiduciary to act in the best interests of the principal, which includes duties of care, loyalty, and confidentiality.
• Finder Fees: Compensation paid to an individual or entity for introducing two parties to a potential business transaction, such as a merger, acquisition, or investment deal. It's essentially a commission for facilitating the connection.
• Founder Friendly: A term used to describe venture capital terms or an investment environment that is considered beneficial to the founders of a startup rather than heavily favoring the investors. This might include favorable terms on equity distribution, control, or liquidity preferences.
• Flat Round - A financing round where the company's valuation remains the same as the previous round, neither diluting nor increasing existing investors' stake values.
• Follow-on Investment/Round - Additional investment made by existing investors in subsequent funding rounds to maintain their ownership percentage or increase their stake.
• First Check - The first institutional investment in a startup, often crucial for establishing credibility and attracting additional investors.
• First Right of Refusal (FROR) - A contractual right that gives existing investors the opportunity to participate in future funding rounds before new investors, typically pro-rata to maintain their ownership percentage.
• Full Ratchet - The most aggressive form of anti-dilution protection, where the conversion price of preferred stock is reduced to the lowest price at which new shares are issued.
• Fund Size - The total amount of capital committed to a venture capital fund by its limited partners.
• Fund Vintage - The year in which a venture capital fund makes its first investment, used to compare performance among funds.
• Fully Diluted Shares - The total number of shares that would be outstanding if all possible sources of conversion, such as convertible preferred stock, warrants, and stock options, were exercised.
• Fair Market Value (FMV) - The price that would be negotiated between a willing buyer and willing seller in an arm's length transaction, often used in option pricing and acquisition valuations.
• Flash Sale - A quick exit of a portfolio company, typically within 24 months of investment, usually through an acquisition rather than an IPO.

• GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles): A common set of accounting principles, standards, and procedures that companies must follow when they compile their financial statements.
• Gateway: In technology, a device used to connect networks using different protocols so that information can be passed from one network to another. In finance, a payment gateway is a service that authorizes and processes online credit or debit card payments for e-commerce.
• General Partner (GP): In a limited partnership, the partner who has unlimited liability for the partnership's debts and obligations, also typically involved in the management of the partnership's business.
• Google Analytics: A free web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic, currently being phased out and replaced by Google Analytics 4.
• Google Ads: An online advertising platform developed by Google, where advertisers bid to display brief advertisements, service offerings, product listings, or videos to web users.
• Greenfield Project: A project or initiative that lacks any constraints imposed by prior work. It's starting from scratch, without an existing codebase or infrastructure.
• Greyfield: Refers to older shopping malls or commercial real estate that are partially vacant or underused, often considered for redevelopment or repurposing, especially relevant in urban planning.
• Gross Margin: The percentage of total revenue that is left after subtracting the costs of goods sold (COGS). It's calculated as (Revenue - COGS) / Revenue * 100.
• Growth Hacking: A term for experimental approach to marketing, particularly for startups. It involves using creativity, analytical thinking, and low-cost techniques to achieve rapid business growth.
• Growth Rate: The annualized percentage change in the size of a company's operations, often calculated for revenue, profit, or market share.
• Growth Stage: A phase in a company's lifecycle where the business grows rapidly, often characterized by scaling operations, expanding market reach, or increasing production capacity.
• Gantt Chart: A type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule, often used in project management
• Good Leaver/Bad Leaver - Provisions in founder and employee agreements that determine how their shares are treated upon departure. Good leavers (those leaving under approved circumstances) typically retain more rights than bad leavers.
• Green Shoe Option - In an IPO, an option that allows underwriters to sell additional shares beyond the initial offering amount, typically up to 15% more, to cover overallotments.
• Gut Check Round - An interim financing round, usually smaller than a full round, used to test investor interest or provide bridge financing until a larger round can be raised.
• Go-to-Market Strategy (GTM) - A company's plan for reaching and acquiring customers, including marketing, sales, distribution, pricing, and competitive positioning. Critical for startup fundraising.
• Growth Capital - Investment focused on expanding or restructuring established companies, typically with proven business models but needing capital to scale operations.
• Growth Equity - A type of investment that falls between venture capital and private equity, typically involving minority investments in more mature companies with proven business models.
• Governance Rights - The rights of investors to participate in company decision-making, often through board seats or voting rights on key matters.
• GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) - The total value of merchandise sold through a platform over a given period of time, before deductions for fees, discounts, and returns. Important metric for marketplace startups.
• Go-Shop Period - A provision in a merger agreement that allows the target company to actively seek competing offers for a specified period after signing the agreement.
• Golden Handcuffs - Financial incentives designed to retain key employees, typically through deferred compensation or stock options with long vesting periods.

• HaaS (Hardware as a Service): A business model where hardware, like computers or servers, is leased rather than purchased, often including maintenance and upgrades.
• Hackathon: An event, typically lasting several hours to days, where programmers, designers, and others collaborate intensively on software projects, often with the goal of creating something new or innovative.
• Hard Cap: In the context of fundraising rounds, especially in crowdfunding or ICOs, it refers to the maximum amount of funds a company aims to raise. Once this amount is reached, no further funds are accepted.
• Hardware: The physical components of a computer system or device, from the motherboard to peripherals like keyboards or screens.
• Headcount: The total number of employees or personnel in a company or department, often used in planning or budgeting.
• Hedge: A strategy designed to reduce or offset the risk of an investment or portfolio. It involves taking a position in a related security, option, or market to mitigate potential losses.
• Herd Behavior: A phenomenon where individuals in a group act collectively without centralized direction, often leading to market trends or investment bubbles.
• High-Frequency Trading (HFT): An algorithmic trading strategy characterized by high-speed, automated transactions, often executed in fractions of a second, leveraging advanced technology to capitalize on small price inefficiencies.
• Holding Company: A company that doesn't produce goods or services itself but instead owns shares or securities in other companies to control or influence their management and policies.
• Home Run: A colloquial term in venture capital for an investment that results in an extremely high return, significantly outperforming expectations.
• Horizontal Integration: A strategy where a company acquires or merges with other companies that operate at the same

• IAAS (Infrastructure as a Service): A cloud computing service model where computing resources (like virtual machines, storage, networks) are provided over the internet on a pay-per-use basis.
• Iceberg Order: A large buy or sell order that's broken down into smaller, less noticeable orders to avoid alerting the market to the full size of the trade, thereby reducing market impact.
• ICO (Initial Coin Offering): A fundraising method where new cryptocurrency ventures sell their underlying crypto tokens in exchange for funds, typically Bitcoin or Ethereum. It's less common now due to regulatory scrutiny.
• IDC (Intrusion Detection System): Security technology that monitors network or system activities for policy violations or malicious intents and reports them.
• Incubator: An organization that provides resources, mentorship, and often seed funding for startups, helping them grow in their early stages.
• Index Fund: A type of mutual fund or ETF designed to mimic the performance of a specific financial market index, like the S&P 500, by purchasing shares in the companies listed within that index.
• Inflection Point: A turning point in a company's growth trajectory where growth rate changes significantly, typically accelerating or decelerating.
• Influencer Marketing: A form of social media marketing where businesses collaborate with individuals who have a notable, engaged following on social media to
• Information Memorandum (IM): A document providing potential investors with key information about a company, its business model, financials, and investment opportunity. Similar to a pitch deck but more detailed.
• Initial Public Offering (IPO): The first time a private company offers shares of its stock to the public on a stock exchange.
• Insider Trading: The illegal practice of trading securities based on material, non-public information.
• Institutional Investor: Large organizations that invest significant sums of money on behalf of others, such as pension funds, insurance companies, and endowments.
• Intellectual Property (IP): Legally protected creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, and symbols. Includes patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
• Intermediary: A third party that facilitates transactions between two other parties, such as a broker or investment bank.
• Investment Bank: A financial institution that provides services like underwriting securities, facilitating mergers and acquisitions, and providing financial advisory services.
• Investment Committee (IC): A group within a venture capital firm responsible for reviewing investment proposals and making investment decisions.
• Investment Horizon: The length of time an investor plans to hold an investment.
• Investment Round: A stage of fundraising where a company raises capital from investors. Typically designated as Seed, Series A, Series B, etc.
• Investment Thesis: A concise summary of an investor's rationale for making an investment.
• IRR (Internal Rate of Return): A metric used to estimate the profitability of potential investments. It's a discount rate that makes the net present value (NPV) of a project zero.

• J-Curve: A term used to describe the trend where investments, particularly in venture capital or private equity, initially experience a decline in value or negative returns before eventually rising to exceed their initial investment value. The graph representing this trend looks like the letter "J" turned sideways. It's often used to describe the expected performance of investments that require time to mature or realize returns, such as startups.
• Joint Venture (JV): A business arrangement where two or more parties agree to pool their resources for the purpose of accomplishing a specific task. This can be for a new project or any other business activity.
• JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group): A commonly used method of compression for photographic images. The format uses lossy compression, meaning some data is discarded to achieve smaller file sizes.
• JavaScript: A high-level, often just-in-time compiled, multi-paradigm programming language that conforms to the ECMAScript specification. It's used widely for web development, particularly client-side scripting.
• Jumpstart: In a startup context, this term might refer to any action or event that gives a significant boost or acceleration to a project or company, helping it to get off the ground or move forward quickly.
• JSON (JavaScript Object Notation): A lightweight data-interchange format, easy for humans to read and write, and easy for machines to parse and generate. It's used frequently in web applications for transmitting data between a server and web application.
• Jump Ball: Not commonly used in tech or startups but could metaphorically refer to a situation where the outcome is uncertain, similar to how a jump ball in sports can go either way.

• Key Performance Indicator (KPI): A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. KPIs can be financial or non-financial metrics that help in tracking progress.
• Kickstarter: A crowdfunding platform where creators can raise funds for creative projects, typically offering rewards to backers rather than equity or a financial return.
• Knowledge Management (KM): The process of creating, sharing, using, and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It's crucial for innovation, competitive advantage, and organizational learning.
• Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO): Outsourcing of processes that involve a high degree of domain expertise, analytical, and technical skills, usually to specialized firms.
• Kubernetes (K8s): An open-source container orchestration system for automating deployment, scaling, and operations of application containers across clusters of hosts.
• K-Factor: In the context of network effects and viral marketing, the K-factor represents the average number of additional users that each new user brings to a platform. If K > 1, the user base is expected to grow exponentially; if K < 1, the growth will eventually stagnate.
• Key Man Risk: The risk associated with a company's over-reliance on one or a few key individuals, whose departure or incapacitation could significantly disrupt or damage the business. This is particularly critical in startups where founders or key personnel drive the company's vision, strategy, and operations.
• Key Employee: While you have "Key Man Risk," which is a related concept, you could explicitly define "Key Employee." This term refers to any employee whose skills, knowledge, or relationships are critical to the company's success. This is broader than just founders and can include top executives, engineers, sales leaders, etc.
• Knowledge Graph: A knowledge base that uses a graph-structured data model to integrate data and represent entities and their relationships. This is relevant to AI and data analysis startups. You could explain how knowledge graphs are used to organize information and provide more accurate search results.
• KYC (Know Your Customer): The process of verifying the identity of a business's customers to comply with regulations and prevent fraud. This is important for fintech and other startups dealing with financial transactions. Briefly mention the importance of KYC in preventing money laundering and other illegal activities.

• LAAS (Legal as a Service): A model where legal services are provided on a subscription or as-needed basis, often leveraging technology to reduce costs and improve access to legal advice.
• LAN (Local Area Network): A network covering a small geographical area, commonly within a single building or campus, intended for connecting devices for resource sharing and communication.
• Lead Investor: The investor or firm that commits the largest amount in a funding round and often takes a leading role in due diligence, term sheet negotiation, and sometimes board representation.
• Lean Startup: A methodology for developing businesses and products, aiming to shorten product development cycles and rapidly discover if a business model is viable through validated learning.
• Leverage: The use of borrowed funds or debt to increase the return on investment. In business contexts, it can also refer to using assets or resources in various ways to amplify gains or growth.
• Leveraged Buyout (LBO): A strategy where a company's management or a third party acquires the company using a significant amount of borrowed money, which is often repaid using the cash flows or assets of the target company.
• License: A legal document giving permission to do something with software, technology, or intellectual property that would otherwise be restricted.
• Liquidity: The ease with which an asset or security can be converted into ready cash without affecting its market price. In startups, it often refers to the ability of founders or investors to convert their shares into cash, typically through an exit event like an acquisition or IPO.
• Liquidity Event: An event where shareholders can convert their shares into cash, such as through an IPO, acquisition, or sale of the company.
• Listing: The process of making a company's shares available for public trading on a stock exchange. This includes initial public offerings (IPOs) where a company first offers its shares to the public, and subsequent listings where shares might be listed on additional exchanges.
• Latency: In technology, the time it takes for data to travel from its source to its destination across a network. Low latency is critical for real-time applications like online gaming, video conferencing, or trading platforms. In business, it might also refer to delays in any process or system that impacts efficiency or responsiveness.
• Laggards: In the context of technology adoption or product diffusion, laggards are the last group to adopt a new technology or product. They are typically skeptical of change and adopt new innovations only when they become mainstream or are forced by necessity.
• Legal Clause: A specific provision or article within a legal document that addresses a particular aspect of the agreement. For startups, understanding or negotiating key legal clauses in contracts, term sheets, or employment agreements is critical for protecting interests and managing risks.
• Last-Mover Advantage: The advantage a company can gain by entering a market later than its competitors, allowing it to learn from the successes and failures of early entrants, refine existing products or services, and potentially capture market share with a more optimized offering.
• Lead Generation: The process of identifying and cultivating potential customers for a business's products or services. Startups employ various strategies for lead generation, such as content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, and events.
• Letter of Intent (LOI): A non-binding agreement outlining the key terms of a proposed transaction, such as a merger, acquisition, or joint venture. An LOI demonstrates serious intent and serves as a framework for further negotiations.

• Machine Learning (ML): A subset of artificial intelligence that involves the development of algorithms that can learn from and make decisions on data. This technology improves over time, learning from previous computations to adjust future actions.
• M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions): The consolidation of companies or assets through various types of financial transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, consolidations, tender offers, and management acquisitions.
• MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication): A security system that requires more than one method of authentication from independent categories of credentials to verify the user's identity for a login or other transaction.
• Minimum Viable Product (MVP): The version of a new product that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.
• Market Capitalization (Market Cap): The total market value of a company's outstanding shares of stock, calculated by multiplying the number of shares by the current market price per share.
• Middleware: Software that acts as a bridge between different applications, systems, or components. It's used for managing the complexity and services of distributed systems.
• Milestone: A scheduled event in a project, typically marking the completion of a major deliverable or phase. In venture capital, milestone funding might be tied to reaching certain business achievements.
• Minimum Efficient Scale (MES): The smallest output level at which a firm can minimize its long-run average costs per unit of output.
• Monetization: The process of converting something into a source of revenue. For startups, this might involve deciding how to charge for a product or service after initially offering it for free.
• Moat (Economic Moat): A business's ability to maintain competitive advantages over its competitors in order to protect its market share and profitability. It's often discussed in terms of sustainable competitive advantage.
• Mobile-First: A strategy where companies design their digital products or services initially for mobile devices before scaling up to larger screens, reflecting the trend where mobile usage often outstrips desktop usage.
• MOM (Minutes of Meeting): A written record of the proceedings of a meeting, often including action items, decisions made, and topics discussed.
• Multicloud: The use of multiple cloud computing services from different providers, often to avoid vendor lock-in, leverage different strengths, or meet regulatory requirements.
• Market Entry Strategy: A plan for introducing a company's products or services into a new market, which can include direct exporting, joint ventures, licensing, or establishing a local presence.
• Mezzanine Funding: A hybrid of debt and equity financing that's often used to fund expansion or acquisitions. It's typically riskier than secured debt but safer than common equity, often providing a higher return for investors.
• Mark to Market (MTM): The accounting practice of adjusting the carrying value of a financial asset or liability to its current market value, rather than its historical cost. This method aims to provide a more accurate view of a company's financial position.
• Multi-modal: Refers to systems or technologies that can process and integrate multiple forms of data or input (like text, images, voice, etc.). It's particularly relevant in AI and machine learning where understanding or generating content requires combining different types of information.
• Management Layer: In organizational structure, this refers to the hierarchical levels or tiers of management within a company, from top executives down to middle and lower-level managers who oversee daily operations.
• Migration:
  • In IT, it often refers to the process of moving data, applications, or infrastructure from one environment to another, such as cloud migration where a company's data or applications are moved to a cloud provider's infrastructure.
  • In a broader business context, migration might also refer to shifting customer bases, business models, or operations to new markets or technologies.
• Management Fee: A fee paid by investors in a venture capital fund to the fund managers (general partners) for managing the fund's investments. It is usually calculated as a percentage of the fund's assets under management.
• Market Penetration: The percentage of a target market that is using a company's product or service. It is a measure of a company's success in reaching its potential customers.
• Material Adverse Change (MAC): A clause in a legal agreement (e.g., a merger agreement) that allows one party to terminate the agreement if a significant negative event occurs that materially impacts the other party's business or financial condition.

• NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement): A legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict access to by third parties.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): A customer satisfaction metric that measures customer experience and predicts business growth by asking customers how likely they are to recommend the company or product to others.
• Network Effect: A phenomenon where the value of a product or service increases as more people use it. This is common in social networks, communication tools, and platforms like Uber or Airbnb.
• NFT (Non-Fungible Token): A type of digital asset that represents ownership or proof of authenticity of a unique item or piece of content, often managed on a blockchain.
• Nimble: Often used to describe startups or small businesses that are able to adapt quickly to changes in market conditions, technology, or customer needs. It's about agility and flexibility in operations and strategy.
• Node:
  • In networking, a point or joint where connections are made. In blockchain technology, a node is any computer that connects to the blockchain network.
  • In data structures, a node is an element in a data structure like a tree or linked list.
• NoSQL: A type of database that's designed to handle and provide access to data through methods other than SQL, often suited for dealing with large volumes of structured, semi-structured, or unstructured data.
• Nominee Director: A person appointed to the board of directors of a company to represent the interests of a particular shareholder or group, often in venture capital situations to ensure investor interests are protected.
• Non-Compete Clause: A term in a contract or agreement where one party agrees not to enter into or start a similar business in direct competition with another party for a specified period within a specified geographical area.
• Normalization:
  • In databases, the process of organizing data to minimize redundancy and dependency.
  • In data analysis or machine learning, adjusting values measured on different scales to a common scale, often before applying statistical or machine learning techniques.
• Net Book Value (NBV): Also known as Net Book Value (NBV), it's an accounting term that represents the value of an asset at which it is carried on a balance sheet. It's calculated as the cost of an asset minus accumulated depreciation, depletion, or amortization. This value is particularly important for businesses when assessing the worth of their assets, especially in scenarios like mergers, acquisitions, or when preparing financial statements.
• Network Topology: The arrangement of the various elements (links, nodes, etc.) of a computer network. Common network topologies include star, bus, ring, and mesh, each with its own characteristics and applications.
• Net Present Value (NPV): The difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows over a period of time. NPV is used in capital budgeting and investment planning to analyze the profitability of a projected investment or project.  
• Non-Dilutive Funding: A type of financing that does not require a company to give up equity in exchange for capital. Examples include grants, loans, and revenue-based financing.

• OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer): A company that produces parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. In tech, this often refers to companies making hardware or components that end up in products sold by other brands.
• On-Demand: A service model where goods or services are made available at the time they are requested by the user. This includes on-demand delivery, streaming services, or cloud computing resources.
• Open Source: Software where the source code is made available for use or modification by users or other developers. It's typically free to use and distribute, fostering community collaboration.
• Operating Leverage: The degree to which a firm or project can increase operating income by increasing revenue. A business with high operating leverage has a large proportion of fixed costs, which means profits increase quickly as sales rise.
• Operational Risk: The risk of loss resulting from inadequate or failed internal processes, employee errors, or external events. It's a significant consideration in business continuity planning and risk management.
• Opportunity Cost: The cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action. Put another way, the benefits you could have received by taking an alternative action.
• Options: Financial instruments that give the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy (call option) or sell (put option) an asset at a specified price within a specific time period or on a specific date.
• Organic Growth: Growth achieved by increasing sales of existing products or services, expanding the customer base, or entering new markets without acquiring other companies or merging.
• Outsourcing: The practice of hiring an external organization to perform services or create goods that were previously performed or produced internally.
• Overhead: The ongoing costs of running a business that can't be directly tied to producing a product or service, like utilities, insurance, or office supplies.
• Over-the-Top (OTT): A term used to describe the delivery of film and TV content via the internet, bypassing traditional distribution channels like cable or satellite services.
• Operating Cash Flow (OCF): The amount of cash generated by the regular operating activities of a business in a specific period. It's calculated by adding non-cash items (like depreciation) back to net income and making adjustments for changes in working capital. OCF indicates a company's ability to generate cash from its core business operations.
• Offering Memorandum: Also known as a private placement memorandum (PPM), it's a document provided to potential investors detailing the terms of an investment opportunity in a private company. It includes information about the business, risks, financial projections, and terms of the investment, but it's not registered with the SEC like a prospectus for a public offering.
• Operating Profit: Also known as Operating Income or EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes), it's a measure of a company's profitability from its core business operations, calculated by subtracting operating expenses from gross profit. This figure excludes taxes, interest expenses, and other non-operating income or expenses.
• Option Pool: A certain number of a company's shares that are set aside and reserved for future issuance to employees, officers, directors, advisors, and consultants. Option pools are a common way to incentivize and reward key contributors in startups.
• Overhang: In venture capital, the amount of capital a fund has raised but has not yet invested in companies.
• Operating Agreement: A legal document that outlines the ownership and operating procedures of a limited liability company (LLC). It governs the internal operations of the LLC and the relationship between its members.

• PaaS (Platform as a Service): A cloud computing model where a third-party provider delivers hardware and software tools, usually those needed for application development, to users over the internet.
• Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule): The idea that 80% of results often come from 20% of efforts or causes, used in business for prioritization, where focusing on the 20% most impactful activities can yield 80% of the desired outcome.
• Payment Gateway: A service that authorizes and processes online credit or debit card payments for e-commerce transactions.
• P/E Ratio (Price-to-Earnings Ratio): A valuation metric that compares a company's current stock price to its per-share earnings. It's used by investors to determine if a stock is over or undervalued.
• Pivot: In startups, this refers to a significant change in strategy, product, market, or business model due to learning from initial efforts or market feedback.
• Pitch Deck: A visual presentation used by startups to pitch their business idea to potential investors, often covering market opportunity, business model, traction, financial projections, and the team.
• Platform: A technology infrastructure that enables the creation, delivery, and use of applications or services, often used in the context of digital ecosystems like app stores or social networks.
• Portfolio: A collection of investments held by an investor or institution. In venture capital, it often refers to all the startups or companies a VC firm has invested in.
• Post-Money Valuation: The valuation of a company after it has received an investment. It includes the value of the investment made in it.
• Pre-Money Valuation: The valuation of a company before it has received an investment. It helps in determining how much equity an investor will receive for their investment.
• Product-Market Fit: The point at which a company's product aligns perfectly with market demand, often recognized when a startup has a solid base of customers and is meeting their needs effectively.
• Proprietary Technology: Technology that is unique to a company and often protected by patents or trade secrets, giving the company a competitive edge.
• Pro Rata: Latin for "in proportion," often used in finance to describe rights or obligations that are proportional to one's investment or share in a company.
• Proxy Statement: A document provided to shareholders by a company seeking shareholder votes on specific proposals, often including management's recommendation on how to vote.
• Pay to Play: A term in venture capital where investors are required to participate in future funding rounds to maintain their pro-rata ownership share or to avoid dilution. It's designed to ensure that all investors continue to support the company's growth.
• Pari Passu: A Latin phrase meaning "with equal step," often used in financial contexts to denote equal ranking or treatment. In investment, it might refer to securities that rank equally in terms of claim on assets or dividends.
• Present Value Formula: A financial calculation used to determine the current worth of a future sum of money or stream of cash flows, given a specified rate of return (discount rate). The formula is PV=FV/(1+r)n, where PV is present value, FV is future value, r is the discount rate, and n is the number of compounding periods.
• P&L (Profit and Loss Statement): Also known as an income statement, it summarizes the revenues, costs, and expenses incurred during a specific period, showing the company's profitability. It's crucial for assessing a company's financial health and performance over time.
• Purchase Price Allocation (PPA): The process of allocating the total purchase price of an acquired company across its tangible and intangible assets and liabilities based on their fair market value at the time of acquisition. This is important for accounting purposes, tax planning, and financial reporting.
• Private Equity: Investments in equity securities of companies or assets that are not publicly traded on the capital markets.
• Preferred Stock: A type of stock that gives holders preferential rights over common stockholders, such as priority in receiving dividends and assets in the event of liquidation. Preferred stock is often issued to venture capital investors.
• Pipeline: In sales or business development, the pipeline refers to the flow of potential customers or deals at different stages of the sales process.
• Proof of Concept (POC): A small-scale experiment or demonstration that is conducted to determine the feasibility of a product, idea, or technology.

• QA (Quality Assurance): The process of ensuring that a product or service adheres to certain standards of quality, often involving testing and validation procedures in software development.
• Qualitative Research: Research that involves analyzing and interpreting non-numerical data like text, video, or audio to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences. It's often used in market research to gather insights into consumer behavior.
• Quant (Quantitative Analyst): A specialist who applies mathematical and statistical methods to financial and risk management problems. In tech startups, they might work on data-driven strategies or algorithmic trading systems.
• Quantitative Research: Research that involves the numerical and statistical analysis of data collected through polls, surveys, or other methods. It's used in startups for data-driven decisions, from market analysis to performance metrics.
• Quick Ratio (Acid-Test Ratio): A liquidity ratio that measures a company's ability to meet its short-term obligations with its most liquid assets, calculated by (Cash + Marketable Securities + Accounts Receivable) / Current Liabilities.
• Quid Pro Quo: A Latin phrase meaning "something for something," often used to describe a reciprocal agreement where both parties receive benefits from the exchange.
• Quiet Period: A regulatory requirement or voluntary period of silence before and after certain corporate events (like an IPO or earnings release) where company insiders refrain from discussing the company to avoid market manipulation.

• SaaS (Software as a Service): A cloud computing service model where software applications are hosted by a provider and accessed by users over the internet.
• SAR (Stock Appreciation Right): A type of employee compensation where the recipient receives the appreciation in value, rather than the stock itself, typically triggered by a performance metric or time period.
• Scalability: The ability of a system, network, or process to handle growing amounts of work or its potential to be enlarged to accommodate growth.
• Scenario Planning: A strategic planning method that organizations use to make flexible long-term plans. It considers various possible future scenarios to prepare for different outcomes.
• SDK (Software Development Kit): A collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate creating applications for specific platforms or frameworks.
• Seed Funding: The initial capital used to start a business or to bring a new product to market. Often, this is the first official equity funding a startup receives.
• Series A, B, C: Refers to stages of venture capital financing. Each series typically involves larger sums of money and different valuation expectations as the company matures.
• Service Level Agreement (SLA): A commitment between a service provider and a client defining the level of service expected from the provider.
• SEO (Search Engine Optimization): The process of optimizing a website in terms of its content, structure, and technical aspects to increase its visibility, ranking, and organic traffic from search engines like Google.
• SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises): Businesses that maintain revenues, assets, or number of employees below certain limits, often defined by governmental or industry standards.
• SME (Subject Matter Expert): An individual with deep expertise in a particular area or field, often consulted or employed for insights or guidance.
• Social Proof: Psychological and sociological concept where people conform to the actions of others under the assumption that those actions are reflective of the correct behavior.
• Software Stack: A set of software subsystems or components needed to create a complete platform or system, particularly in reference to technology infrastructure or application environments.
• SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act): A U.S. law that sets standards for all U.S. public company boards, management, and public accounting firms, aiming to protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures. It mandates strict auditing and financial reporting controls to prevent corporate fraud.
• Sandbagging: A strategy where a company or individual intentionally underperforms or understates expectations to make future performance look better or to manage expectations in negotiations or performance reviews.

• Seed Funding: As previously mentioned, this is the initial capital used to start a business or to bring a new product to market, typically involving angel investors or venture capitalists.
• Series A: The first significant round of venture capital financing after seed funding, aimed at companies that have demonstrated viability and are looking to scale up operations.
• Series B: A funding round that follows Series A, often used for further expansion, product development, or market penetration, indicating the company is growing and potentially profitable.
• Shares Outstanding: The total number of shares of a corporation that are issued and held by all its shareholders, including shares held by institutional investors and restricted shares owned by company insiders.
• SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company): A company with no commercial operations that raises capital through an IPO for the purpose of acquiring an existing company, thus acting as a shell to take a private company public without going through the traditional IPO process.
• SWOT Analysis: A strategic planning tool used to identify and analyze an organization's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. It's fundamental in business strategy, helping in understanding the internal and external factors affecting an organization.
• Smart Money: Investments from experienced investors who provide not only capital but also valuable expertise, industry connections, and strategic guidance to a startup.
• Stock Options: Contracts that give employees the right to buy a certain number of shares of company stock at a predetermined price (strike price) within a specific time period. Stock options are a common form of equity compensation used to attract, motivate, and retain employees.
• Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A long-term competitive advantage that is not easily replicated by competitors, allowing a company to maintain or increase market share and profitability over time.

• TAM (Total Addressable Market): The total revenue opportunity available for a product or service if it were to capture 100% of the market. It's crucial for startups to estimate this when presenting their business case to investors.
• Tech Stack: The combination of technologies, software, and tools used by a company to deliver its products or services, often including operating systems, databases, front-end and back-end frameworks, and deployment platforms.
• Term Sheet: A non-binding agreement outlining the basic terms and conditions under which an investment will be made in a company by investors. It covers issues like valuation, investment amount, rights, and obligations.
• Token: In blockchain technology, a token is a digital asset that represents either a utility or a value. Tokens can represent assets, access rights, or digital currency within a specific ecosystem.
• Traction: Evidence that a startup is gaining customers, users, or making revenue. It's critical for convincing investors of the viability and growth potential of the business.
• Trade Secret: Intellectual property that gives a company an advantage over its competitors, kept confidential and not generally known in the industry.
• Tranche: In finance, a portion of a financial order or arrangement, often used in funding rounds to refer to different segments where investors might invest in stages.
• Trough of Sorrow: A term in the Gartner Hype Cycle, describing the phase after the peak of inflated expectations where technology or innovations face disillusionment before they can gain mainstream adoption.
• TVC (Total Venture Capital): The total amount of venture capital available within a market or economy at a given time, often used to gauge the health and activity of the startup ecosystem.
• Tender Offer: A public offer by a company, individual, or group to purchase a specified number of issued shares directly from existing shareholders at a premium to the current market price. It's often used in acquisitions or to regain control of a company if its stock price is undervalued or during hostile takeovers.
• Terminal Value Formula: Used in finance, particularly in discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, to estimate the value of a business or investment beyond the explicit forecast period. The formula can be either the perpetuity growth method TV=FCF×(1+g)WACC?g where FCF is the free cash flow in the last year of the forecast, g is the perpetual growth rate, and WACC is the weighted average cost of capital, or the exit multiple method where an appropriate multiple is applied to the final year's cash flows or earnings.
• Transaction: A business or financial deal, often involving the exchange or transfer of goods, services, or money. In IT, it refers specifically to a set of operations that must complete successfully for the system to remain in a consistent state, often used in database management.
• Tokenization: In finance, this refers to the process of converting rights to an asset into a digital token on a blockchain or other distributed ledger technology. Tokenization can represent ownership in physical assets, real estate, art, or intellectual property, allowing for easier transfer, trading, or fractional ownership. In cybersecurity, tokenization refers to the process of replacing sensitive data with unique identification symbols that retain all essential information without compromising its security.
• Technology Transfer: The process of transferring technology from one organization to another, often involving the commercialization of research and development findings from universities or research institutions to businesses.
  
• Time to Market: The length of time it takes for a product or service to be developed and brought to market.
• Top-Down Approach: A market analysis approach that starts with estimating the total market size (TAM) and then narrows it down to the target market by applying a series of filters or assumptions.

• UI (User Interface): The space where interactions between humans and machines occur. It includes both the visual design and the interactive elements of software or digital products.
• Uptime: The time during which a computer system, server, or network is operational or available for use. High uptime is crucial for businesses, especially those offering services or software as a product.
• UX (User Experience): Encompasses a person's holistic experience with a company's products or services, focusing on usability, accessibility, and pleasure derived from the interaction.
• Unbundling: A business strategy where a company that offers multiple services decides to split them into separate, often independent entities. This can allow for more focused innovation, competition, or specialization in each service.
• Unicorn: A term coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee to describe a startup company valued at over $1 billion by investors. The term has since expanded to include decacorns (valued at over $10 billion) and hectocorns (valued at over $100 billion).
• User Acquisition: The process of attracting, engaging, and converting new users for a product or service. This is critical for growth, especially in digital or app-based businesses.
• User Journey: The sequence of interactions a user has with a product or service, often mapped out to understand the user
• Use of Proceeds: A section in an investment or offering document that details how the company plans to spend the capital raised. It's crucial for transparency and often scrutinized by investors to ensure alignment with the company's strategy.
• Unilateral Contract: A contract where one party makes a promise in exchange for the performance of an act by the other party, rather than a mutual exchange of promises. An example is a reward offered for the return of a lost item; the promise is fulfilled only if the act (return of the item) is performed.
• Undervalued: Refers to an asset, company, or security that is perceived to be priced lower than its intrinsic or fundamental value. This could be due to market inefficiencies, mispricing, or other factors not yet reflected in the current market price.
• Unique User: In digital and web analytics, this term describes a distinct individual visitor to a website or app, measured over a specific period. It's different from total visits or sessions, as one user can visit multiple times.
• Underwriter: In finance, particularly in the context of securities or insurance, an underwriter is an entity or individual that assesses and assumes risk by pricing and marketing securities, or by setting premiums for insurance. In investment banking, underwriters help companies issue stocks or bonds, taking on the risk by buying the securities to sell to the public, thus guaranteeing the proceeds to the issuing entity.
• User Onboarding: The process of introducing new users to a product or service, guiding them through its features and functionalities to help them quickly understand and effectively use it.
• User Story: In agile software development, a user story is a short, simple description of a feature told from the perspective of the person who desires the new capability, usually a user or customer of the system.  
• Use Case: A description of how a user interacts with a system to achieve a specific goal. It outlines the steps involved in a particular interaction and the expected outcome.

• V2MOM (Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, Measures): A strategic planning framework used by some organizations to outline their objectives and operational plans.
• Valuation: The process of determining the current (or projected) worth of an asset or a company. This is critical in venture capital for determining investment amounts, terms, and potential returns.
• Value Proposition: A clear statement that explains how a product or service provides value to customers or users, often by solving a problem or satisfying a need.
• Venture Capital (VC): A form of private equity and a type of financing that investors provide to startup companies and small businesses that are believed to have long-term growth potential.
• Vertical Integration: A strategy where a company acquires or owns its suppliers, distributors, or retail locations to control its value or supply chain.
• Vesting: A process where equity, options, or other benefits are earned over time. It's often used in employee compensation packages to incentivize long-term commitment.
• Viral Coefficient: A metric used in viral marketing, representing the average number of secondary invitations (or actions) generated by each primary invitation sent out.
• Vision: An organization's long-term goal or aspiration, often described as an inspiring image of what the organization hopes to achieve or become.
• Voting Rights: The rights held by shareholders to vote on matters of corporate policy and governance, often proportionate to the number of shares they own.
• Veto Rights: In the context of venture capital or corporate governance, veto rights give certain shareholders, often major investors or founders, the ability to block specific decisions or actions proposed by the company. These rights can cover areas like issuing new stock, selling significant assets, or entering into major business transactions. They are typically outlined in shareholder agreements or investment terms to protect the interests of key stakeholders by ensuring that critical decisions require their approval.
• Venture Debt: A type of debt financing provided to venture-backed companies, typically in the form of loans with warrants or convertible notes. It is often used to complement equity financing and provide additional capital for working capital or expansion.
• Venture Round: A specific round of funding raised by a startup company from venture capital investors.
  Virtual Data Room (VDR): A secure online repository of documents used for due diligence in mergers and acquisitions or fundraising. It allows potential investors or acquirers to access confidential information about a company in a controlled environment.

• Waterfall Model: A sequential approach to software development where progress flows downwards like a waterfall through several stages, including requirements, design, implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance.
• Whale: In business, especially in gaming or digital platforms, a whale refers to a high-value customer or user who spends significantly more than average, often contributing a disproportionate amount of revenue.
• White Label: A product or service produced by one company (the manufacturer) that another company (the marketer) rebrands and sells as their own.
• White Paper: An informative document, often used in tech or finance, that explains a problem, how to solve it, or information about a new technology or product.
• Whitelist: In tech, a whitelist is a list of entities (like IP addresses, emails, or applications) that are granted access or are permitted to operate within a system or network, used for security or regulatory compliance reasons.
• Wireframe: A visual guide that represents the skeletal framework of a website or app, focusing on the layout, information architecture, user flow, and functionality rather than the visual design.
• Workforce Planning: The strategic alignment of human resources with an organization's business goals, involving forecasting workforce needs, planning development, and managing talent.
• Worm: A type of malware that replicates itself to spread to other computers, often without human intervention, using computer networks or internet connections.
• Warrant: A security that gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy a company's stock at a certain price before a certain date. Warrants are often issued in conjunction with debt financing or as part of employee compensation packages.
• Working Capital: The difference between a company's current assets (such as cash, accounts receivable, and inventory) and its current liabilities (such as accounts payable and short-term debt). It is a measure of a company's short-term financial health and its ability to meet its operational expenses.  
• Write-Down: An accounting action that reduces the book value of an asset when its fair market value has declined. It is often done to reflect impairment or obsolescence of assets.

• XaaS (Anything as a Service): An extension of the "as a Service" model where virtually any product or service can be delivered via the internet on a subscription basis, not limited to traditional infrastructure or software services.
• X-Tech: A term increasingly used to describe technologies that integrate with or enhance physical systems, often used in the context of Industry 4.0 or smart manufacturing where technology (like IoT, AI) is applied to traditional industries.
• XAI (Explainable AI): A subset of AI that focuses on making the processes and outcomes of machine learning models understandable to human experts, aiming to increase trust and adherence to ethical standards in AI applications.
• Xpress: Often used in tech as shorthand for "Express," indicating something that's done quickly or with minimal steps, like Node.js Express framework for web applications or delivery services promising fast delivery.
• XSS (Cross-Site Scripting): A type of security vulnerability typically found in web applications where malicious scripts are injected into otherwise benign and trusted websites.

• Y Combinator: One of the most well-known startup accelerators and seed funds, based in Silicon Valley. It provides seed funding, mentorship, and networking opportunities for early-stage startups.
• Yield: In finance, yield refers to the income return on an investment, such as the interest or dividends received from holding a security. It's often expressed as an annual percentage rate.
• Yield Curve: A graph that plots the yields of similar quality bonds against their maturities. It is often used to assess market expectations about future interest rates and economic growth.
• Young Entrepreneur: Often used to describe founders or business owners who have started their companies at a relatively young age, typically highlighting their innovative spirit or precocious business acumen.
• YAML (YAML Ain't Markup Language): A human-readable data serialization language commonly used for configuration files, data exchange between languages with different data structures, or representing hierarchical data.
• YTD (Year to Date): A period starting from the beginning of the current calendar year or fiscal year up to the current date. It's used in financial reports to provide a snapshot of performance over the year so far.
• Year-Over-Year (YOY) - A comparison of a company's metrics with those from the same period in the previous year, used to evaluate growth and performance trends.
• Yearly Run Rate (YRR) - A financial projection that extrapolates current revenue or expenses over a full year. Often used by startups to demonstrate potential annual performance based on current metrics.
• Yellow Sheets - Historical term for preliminary prospectus documents in an IPO, printed on yellow paper. While no longer literally printed on yellow paper, the term is still sometimes used to refer to preliminary offering documents.
• Young Company - Generally refers to companies less than five years old, though definitions vary. Often used in venture capital to describe potential investment targets in their early stages.
• Yield to Exit - The total return an investor expects to receive from an investment when accounting for the anticipated exit event (such as an IPO or acquisition).
• Youth Market - A target demographic of young consumers (typically ages 13-24) that many startups focus on, particularly in social media, gaming, and consumer technology sectors.

• Zero-Based Budgeting: A budgeting method where all expenses must be justified for each new period, starting from a "zero base." Commonly used by startups to maintain lean operations and optimize resource allocation.
• Zero Knowledge Proof: A cryptographic method that allows one party (the prover) to prove to another party (the verifier) that a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the validity of the statement itself. Increasingly important in blockchain and Web3 startups.
• Zombie Company: A company that earns just enough money to continue operating and service debt but is unable to pay off that debt. These companies cannot afford to invest in growth or expansion and typically require restructuring or additional funding to survive.
• Zero-Day: In cybersecurity startups, refers to a previously unknown security vulnerability that hackers can exploit before developers have an opportunity to create a patch—literally zero days between discovery and exploitation.
• Zone of Possible Agreement (ZOPA): The range between the reservation prices of two negotiating parties where a deal can be struck. Important in startup valuations and deal negotiations.
• Zero-Stage Capital: Another term for pre-seed funding, representing the earliest stage of venture capital investment, typically when a startup is still in the concept or prototype phase.
• Zoom Fatigue: The feeling of tiredness, worry, or burnout associated with overusing virtual platforms for video conferencing, particularly relevant in remote work environments.