Glossary

Business terminology grouped by topic. Each cluster page covers 8-12 related terms with full prose definitions, formulas where relevant, and cross-references between related terms.

• Accounting Fundamentals

  Core accounting concepts: EBITDA, EBIT, COGS, accrual vs. cash, deferred revenue, depreciation, and the line items that anchor every financial conversation.

• Startup Funding

  Pre-money, post-money, SAFE, convertible note, 409A, liquidation preference, pro rata, and the rest of the venture capital vocabulary.

• Equity & Compensation

  Vesting, cliff, ISO vs. NSO, RSU, strike price, exercise window, and the rest of the employee equity vocabulary.

• Business Entities

  LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, sole proprietorship, partnership, B-Corp — the legal structures and their trade-offs.

• Sales & Marketing Metrics

  MQL, SQL, pipeline velocity, ACV, ARR, MRR, NRR, GRR, and the rest of the GTM measurement vocabulary.

• SaaS Metrics

  Churn types, expansion revenue, magic number, rule of 40, and the SaaS-specific measurements that define unit economics and valuation.

• Financial Statements

  Line items on the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement — what each one means and how they connect.

• M&A Terminology

  LOI, due diligence, earn-out, escrow, rep & warranty, and the rest of the merger and acquisition vocabulary.

• Contracts & Legal

  NDA, MSA, SOW, indemnification, force majeure, arbitration, and the contract terms that drive commercial relationships.

• Intellectual Property

  Trademark, copyright, patent types, trade secret, fair use — the IP categories and their commercial implications.

All terms (A-Z)

• 409A valuation

  Startup Funding

• Acceleration (single-trigger and double-trigger)

  Equity & Compensation

• Accrual vs. cash accounting

  Accounting Fundamentals

• Accruals and matching principle

  Accounting Fundamentals

• ACV (Annual Contract Value)

  Sales & Marketing Metrics

• Anti-dilution provisions

  Startup Funding

• Arbitration

  Contracts & Legal

• ARPU / ARPA / ARPC

  SaaS Metrics

• ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue)

  Sales & Marketing Metrics

• Assignment and change of control

  Contracts & Legal

• Assignment of inventions

  Intellectual Property

• B-Corporation

  Business Entities

• Balance sheet

  Financial Statements

• Bookings, billings, and revenue

  SaaS Metrics

• Break-up fee / reverse break-up fee

  M&A Terminology

• C-Corporation

  Business Entities

• CAC payback period

  SaaS Metrics

• Cap table

  Equity & Compensation

• Capex vs. opex

  Accounting Fundamentals

• Cash flow statement

  Financial Statements

• Cliff

  Equity & Compensation

• Closing conditions

  M&A Terminology

• COGS

  Accounting Fundamentals

• Cohort retention

  SaaS Metrics

• Common vs. preferred stock

  Equity & Compensation

• Convertible note

  Startup Funding

• Copyright

  Intellectual Property

• Current vs. non-current

  Financial Statements

• Deferred revenue

  Accounting Fundamentals

• Definitive agreement (SPA / APA)

  M&A Terminology

• Delaware advantage

  Business Entities

• Depreciation and amortization

  Accounting Fundamentals

• Discount

  Startup Funding

• Drag-along and tag-along rights

  Startup Funding

• Due diligence

  M&A Terminology

• Earn-out

  M&A Terminology

• Earnest money / deposit

  M&A Terminology

• EBIT

  Accounting Fundamentals

• EBITDA

  Accounting Fundamentals

• Escrow

  M&A Terminology

• Exercise window

  Equity & Compensation

• Expansion revenue

  SaaS Metrics

• Fair use

  Intellectual Property

• Force majeure

  Contracts & Legal

• Founder shares and 83(b) election

  Equity & Compensation

• Free cash flow

  Financial Statements

• General partnership

  Business Entities

• Goodwill

  Accounting Fundamentals

• Governing law and venue

  Contracts & Legal

• Gross profit and gross margin

  Financial Statements

• GRR (Gross Revenue Retention)

  Sales & Marketing Metrics

• Income statement (P&L)

  Financial Statements

• Indemnification

  Contracts & Legal

• ISO (Incentive Stock Option)

  Equity & Compensation

• Limitation of liability

  Contracts & Legal

• Limited liability partnership (LLP)

  Business Entities

• Limited partnership (LP)

  Business Entities

• Liquidation preference

  Startup Funding

• LLC (Limited Liability Company)

  Business Entities

• Logo churn vs. revenue churn

  SaaS Metrics

• LOI (Letter of Intent)

  M&A Terminology

• LTV / CAC ratio

  SaaS Metrics

• MAC clause (Material Adverse Change)

  M&A Terminology

• Magic number

  Sales & Marketing Metrics

• Magic number

  SaaS Metrics

• MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)

  Sales & Marketing Metrics

• MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)

  Sales & Marketing Metrics

• MSA (Master Services Agreement)

  Contracts & Legal

• NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)

  Contracts & Legal

• Net dollar churn (and net revenue retention)

  SaaS Metrics

• Net income

  Financial Statements

• Non-compete and non-solicit

  Contracts & Legal

• NRR (Net Revenue Retention)

  Sales & Marketing Metrics

• NSO / NQSO (Non-Qualified Stock Option)

  Equity & Compensation

• Open source license

  Intellectual Property

• Operating expenses (OpEx)

  Financial Statements

• Operating income (EBIT)

  Financial Statements

• Operating leverage

  Accounting Fundamentals

• Pass-through taxation

  Business Entities

• Patent (design)

  Intellectual Property

• Patent (utility)

  Intellectual Property

• Pay-to-play

  Startup Funding

• Piercing the corporate veil

  Business Entities

• Pipeline velocity

  Sales & Marketing Metrics

• Pre-money and post-money valuation

  Startup Funding

• Pro rata rights

  Startup Funding

• Public domain

  Intellectual Property

• Quick ratio (SaaS)

  SaaS Metrics

• Reps and warranties

  M&A Terminology

• Revenue

  Financial Statements

• Right of publicity

  Intellectual Property

• RSU (Restricted Stock Unit)

  Equity & Compensation

• Rule of 40

  SaaS Metrics

• S-Corporation

  Business Entities

• SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity)

  Startup Funding

• Sales cycle length

  Sales & Marketing Metrics

• Sole proprietorship

  Business Entities

• SOW (Statement of Work)

  Contracts & Legal

• SQL (Sales Qualified Lead)

  Sales & Marketing Metrics

• Stockholders' equity

  Financial Statements

• Strike price

  Equity & Compensation

• Termination for convenience

  Contracts & Legal

• Trade secret

  Intellectual Property

• Trademark

  Intellectual Property

• Trademark dilution

  Intellectual Property

• Valuation cap

  Startup Funding

• Vesting

  Equity & Compensation

• Win rate

  Sales & Marketing Metrics

• Working capital

  Accounting Fundamentals

• Working capital adjustment

  M&A Terminology