List of Frequently Used Terms in Startup Departments

1. Angel Investor: An individual who provides financial backing for startups, often in exchange for ownership equity. Angel investors typically have industry experience and can offer valuable guidance to early-stage companies.
2. Burn Rate: The rate at which a company is spending its capital over a specific period. It is crucial for startups to monitor their burn rate to ensure they have enough runway before they achieve profitability.
3. Churn Rate: The percentage of customers who stop using a product or service within a given time period. High churn rates can indicate issues with product-market fit or customer satisfaction.
4. Disruptive Innovation: An innovation that creates a new market and value network, eventually disrupting existing markets and displacing established market-leading firms, products, and alliances.
5. Equity: Ownership interest in a company represented by shares of stock. Startup founders typically allocate equity to employees, investors, and advisors as a form of compensation or capital investment.
6. Freemium Model: A business model that offers a basic version of a product or service for free, with the option to upgrade to a paid premium version for additional features or functionalities.
7. Growth Hacking: A marketing technique focused on rapid experimentation across various channels and product development to identify the most effective ways to grow a startup.
8. IPO (Initial Public Offering): The first sale of a company's stock to the public. Startups may pursue an IPO as a way to raise significant capital and provide liquidity to early investors.
9. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators): Quantifiable measures that help startups track and evaluate their progress towards specific business objectives. Common KPIs include revenue growth, customer acquisition cost, and user retention.
10. LTV (Lifetime Value): The predicted net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer. Understanding LTV helps startups make strategic decisions related to customer acquisition and retention.
11. Market Fit: The degree to which a product satisfies strong market demand. Startups must iterate and refine their products continually to achieve product-market fit and drive sustainable growth.
12. Pivot: When a startup shifts its business strategy, product direction, or target market in response to feedback, market changes, or internal insights. Pivots are common in the early stages of startup development.
13. Runway: The amount of time until a startup exhausts its current funding, typically measured as the number of months before the company reaches cash flow breakeven or secures additional financing.
14. Seed Round: The initial funding round for a startup, usually provided by angel investors, venture capitalists, or accelerators. Seed rounds help startups validate their concepts, build prototypes, and establish early traction.
15. Unicorn: A startup company with a valuation exceeding $1 billion. Unicorns are rare and attract significant attention in the startup ecosystem due to their rapid growth and disruptive potential.