Resources

Startup Dictionary

A comprehensive reference guide to the key terms of the startup and tech world — business, fundraising, product, and marketing, all in one place.

🚀 Business & Startups 📊 Metrics & Finance 💰 Fundraising & Investment ⚖️ Legal 👥 Roles & Org Structure 💻 Development, Tech & Product 🎯 Marketing & Sales

🚀 Business & Startups (12 terms)

Business Model
The strategy a company uses to generate revenue from its customers — in other words, how it actually makes money.
B2B
A business model where a company sells a product or service to another business, rather than directly to an individual consumer.
B2B2C
A model where a company sells to an intermediary business, which then sells directly to the end consumer.
B2C
A business model where a company sells its product or service directly to the individual consumer.
B2G
A business model where a company sells its services or products to government bodies and public institutions.
Benchmark
The process of comparing your performance against the strongest competitors in the market, to understand your position and identify what needs improvement.
Go To Market (GTM)
A company's strategy for entering the market — the sales channels, pricing, and operating model used to get the product to customers.
Fintech
A field combining technology and finance — digital banking, investing, payment services, and digital currencies.
Outsourcing
Using an external party (such as a software company) to meet a need the company doesn't have the capacity or resources to provide in-house.
Networking
Building professional relationships with people in the same field, with the goal that these relationships lead to future opportunities.
Impact Investing
Investing in startups that, alongside the expected financial return, generate a positive social or environmental impact.
OKR
An organizational goal-setting methodology that defines Objectives and measurable Key Results to help a company execute its strategy.

📊 Metrics & Finance (9 terms)

ARPU
Average Revenue Per User — total monthly revenue divided by the number of users.
ARR
Annual Recurring Revenue — a company's expected yearly revenue, usually from paid subscriptions, before expenses.
MRR
Monthly Recurring Revenue — a company's expected monthly revenue, usually from subscriptions, before expenses.
CAC
Customer Acquisition Cost — the average cost of acquiring a new customer, total marketing spend divided by the number of customers actually acquired.
LTV
Lifetime Value — the total amount a customer is expected to spend on the product over the course of their relationship with it.
Churn Rate
The percentage of customers or subscribers who stop using the product within a given period.
ROI
Return on Investment — a measure of the profitability of a given investment, the ratio between the return achieved and the original investment.
KPI
Key Performance Indicator — a core metric a company chooses to track to measure its performance and progress toward its goals.
FP&A
Financial Planning & Analysis — a field focused on financial planning and results analysis, helping a company understand its financial position and plan for the future.

💰 Fundraising & Investment (13 terms)

Seed Round
A startup's first official funding round from outside investors, aimed at accelerating the early stages of growth.
Pitch
A short, focused talk aimed at quickly conveying the essence of a startup to potential investors or customers.
Pitch Deck
A short presentation that briefly explains to investors, customers, or partners what the company does.
One Pager
A single-page document summarizing a company's key points — the problem, the solution, market size, and the team — aimed mainly at investors.
Exit
The sale of a company, usually for a significant sum paid to the founders and shareholders.
Unicorn
A term for a startup whose valuation exceeds one billion dollars.
Angel Investor
An individual investor who invests their own money in early-stage startups in exchange for equity in the company.
VC (Venture Capital)
A fund that invests large sums in startups that have moved past the early stage, in exchange for an ownership stake.
SAFE
Simple Agreement for Future Equity — a simplified investment agreement that lets an investor inject funds into a company at an early stage, with their actual equity percentage determined in a future funding round.
Cap Table
A document showing a company's ownership structure — who owns how many shares, and each shareholder's percentage.
Term Sheet
A non-binding document outlining the key terms of an investment, used as the basis for the detailed contract signed later.
IPO
Initial Public Offering — the process by which a private company offers its shares for sale to the public for the first time on a stock exchange.
Accelerator
An early-stage startup acceleration program that provides office space, mentorship, advice, and opportunities to connect with investors.

👥 Roles & Org Structure (12 terms)

CEO
Chief Executive Officer — the company's top executive, the highest-ranking position, sitting at the head of the organization.
CFO
Chief Financial Officer — responsible for managing the company's financial affairs, budget, and financial forecasting.
COO
Chief Operating Officer — responsible for the organization's day-to-day management, reporting directly to the CEO.
CMO
Chief Marketing Officer — responsible for achieving the company's marketing and sales goals.
CTO
Chief Technology Officer — responsible for all technical aspects of the organization; in small startups, often the lead developer themselves.
VP
Vice President — a senior title indicating the person heads a specific department within the company, such as VP Sales.
VP R&D
A senior executive responsible for development operations, hiring the tech team, and R&D budgets.
Chief of Staff
A senior administrative role supporting leadership in cross-department coordination, project management, and leading organizational operations.
HR
Human Resources — the department responsible for hiring employees, working conditions, and organizational culture.
R&D
Research & Development — the department housing the development teams responsible for building the company's products.
QA
Quality Assurance — the process (or the team responsible for it) of checking product quality before it's delivered to the customer.
Product Manager
A role that translates customer needs and company goals into concrete product features and functionality.

💻 Development, Tech & Product (19 terms)

Agile
An iterative approach to project management and software development, based on delivering small, frequent results with continuous adaptation to change.
API
A structured, controlled way for a company or service to expose its data and functionality and share it with third parties.
AWS
Amazon's cloud computing platform, providing storage, compute, and development services for tech companies.
Azure
Microsoft's cloud computing platform, offering storage, compute, and development services similar to AWS.
Backend
The "invisible" part of a digital product — the code and processes running behind the scenes.
Front End
The visible part of the product that the user sees and actually interacts with.
IoT
Internet of Things — a world in which everyday physical devices are connected to the internet and to each other, enabling smart remote control.
PaaS
Platform as a Service — a managed cloud platform that lets developers build and run their products without maintaining the servers themselves.
SaaS
Software as a Service — software or a service delivered through the browser, with no local installation required.
SDK
Software Development Kit — a set of tools and code libraries that let developers build applications for a specific platform.
Big Data
Massive volumes of digital information that organizations collect and analyze to derive actionable decisions.
UI
User Interface — everything the user sees and visually interacts with on a website, app, or piece of software.
UX
User Experience — the user's overall experience with the product; how easy and genuinely useful it is to use, not just how it looks.
Mockup
A near-final visual design that simulates what the product will actually look like, before development begins.
Wireframe
A simple diagram outlining the structure of the product's screens, before moving to detailed design.
PRD
Product Requirements Document — a document defining the product's goals, features, and screens, used as a guide for development and business teams.
MVP
Minimum Viable Product — the simplest possible version of a product, aimed at testing the idea with real customers before investing in full development.
POC
Proof of Concept — an attempt to test whether a specific idea is practically feasible, both technically and economically.
Feature
A specific capability or function within a product or piece of software.

🎯 Marketing & Sales (12 terms)

A/B Testing
A research method comparing two different versions of an element (price, text, color) to see which performs better.
ASO
App Store Optimization — improving an app's visibility in app stores (Google Play, App Store), the equivalent of SEO for the web.
CPA
Cost Per Action — a digital advertising payment model where you pay for an actual action taken by the visitor (a purchase, leaving contact details, etc.).
CPC
Cost Per Click — a digital advertising payment model where you pay based on the number of actual clicks on the ad.
CPM
Cost Per Mille — the cost of advertising per 1,000 ad impressions.
CRM
Customer Relationship Management — a system or strategy for managing customer relationships, from the moment they're identified through to sale and customer service.
CRO
Conversion Rate Optimization — efforts aimed at increasing the percentage of site or app visitors who complete a desired action (purchase, signup, etc.).
CTA
Call to Action — an element (button, text, or image) designed to encourage the user to take a specific action.
CTR
Click-Through Rate — the percentage of people who clicked a given ad out of everyone who saw it.
PPC
Pay Per Click — a paid advertising model where the advertiser only pays for actual clicks on their ad.
Newsletter
An email list through which a company sends updates and marketing content to subscribers.
Digital Marketing
All marketing efforts conducted online — ad campaigns, social media, SEO, email, and more.

A comprehensive reference guide featuring 81 terms from the world of startups and tech — concise, freshly written definitions, all in one place.