All memos tagged #startup-lexicon

Convertible Notes, and their more modern Silicon Valley counterpart SAFE Notes, are a way to take an investment in a company without the time and expense of doing a "priced round." Convertible Notes...

An 83(b) Election is a filing with the Internal Revenue Service under Section 83(b) of the Internal Revenue Code that lets the recipient of restricted stock, or other property subject to vesting, pay...

Advanced Factoring or Venture Factoring is a method of investing in the future invoices of a person or company. Traditionally a factoring company will buy the invoices of a company and take on the...

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is a financial-metric giving the mean revenue a business generates per user or account over a defined period, found by dividing total revenue in that period by the...

Traction is quantitative evidence of Market Demand — measurable, ideally accelerating proof that people want what a company is building. What counts as traction depends on stage. Before revenue it...

EBITDA — earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization — is a measure of a company's core operating profitability that strips out financing decisions, tax jurisdiction effects, and...

bootstrap | adjective | (of a project) using one's own resources rather than external help. [1] Bootstrapping refers to a self-starting process that is supposed to proceed without external input, a...

A brand activation is the practice of cultivating brand interaction and experiences that drive the action of its consumers. [1] Activations, unlike marketing campaigns, are often ephemeral and aimed...

User Acquisition (UA) refers to the process of attracting and converting new users or customers to a product, service, or platform. User acquisition typically encompasses a range of strategies and...

Venture capital refers to a form of private equity financing provided by investors to startups and small businesses with strong growth potential. These investments typically involve high risk and...

A two-sided marketplace is a business-model in which a platform enables interactions and transactions between two distinct user groups, typically buyers and sellers or service providers and...

Software as a Service (SaaS) refers to a model of software delivery in which applications are hosted remotely and made accessible to users over the internet. SaaS eliminates the need for local...

Monthly active users (MAU) is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) often used by organizations in online gaming, mobile applications, social networking, etc. The MAU is calculated by counting the number...

A key performance indicator (KPI) is a quantifiable metric used to evaluate the success of an organization, team, or individual in achieving specific objectives. KPIs are selected to align with...

A keystone user is a concept in product and community development that highlights the importance of specific individuals who play an outsized role in sustaining or accelerating growth. A keystone...

Lean methodology is an approach to product development and business strategy that emphasizes efficiency, iteration, and customer feedback. Originating in manufacturing practices and popularized in...

Churn is the rate at which users cancel subscriptions within a given period, often measured as a percentage of the total customer base. Churn is a central metric in subscription-based and recurring...

Daily Unique Reach (DAU) is a metric used to measure the number of distinct individuals who encounter a specific piece of content, advertisement, or platform within a single 24-hour period. Unlike...

A venture studio, also known as a Startup Studio, startup factory, or venture builder, is an organization that systematically builds new startups by providing resources such as capital, talent,...

A valuation is the estimated or determined market value of a thing. Valuations in venture capital markets, emphasizing that pricing primarily reflects investor supply-and-demand for a limited...