CAC, CTC, CPA, P&L, ROAS and hundreds more — plain-language definitions with examples and formulas, available in multiple languages.
Showing two versions to different halves of your audience to see which performs better, instead of guessing.
The average yearly value of a single customer contract, useful when deals run for multiple years.
The average amount a customer spends in a single purchase.
On average, how much money each user brings in over a period.
आपकी आवर्ती सदस्यता आय का सालाना मूल्य — MRR को बारह से गुणा करने पर।
Money your business owes to suppliers for things already received but not yet paid for.
Money customers owe you for work already delivered but not yet paid for. It counts as revenue, but you cannot spend it until it actually arrives.
The moment a new user first experiences real value from your product — the "aha" that makes them likely to stick around.
An individual who invests their own money into very early startups, usually in smaller amounts than a fund.
Deciding which marketing effort deserves credit for a sale when the customer saw several before buying.
Who you sell to: B2B means selling to other businesses; B2C means selling directly to everyday consumers.
The running list of everything you might build, ordered by priority but not yet scheduled.
A snapshot of what the business owns and owes on a single date. What you own minus what you owe is what the business is worth on paper.
Growing a company using your own money and revenue instead of raising from investors. Slower, but you keep full ownership and control.
The single slowest step that limits how fast the whole process can go. Speeding up anything else changes nothing until you fix it.
The share of visitors who land on your page and leave without clicking anything. High bounce usually means the page did not match what they expected.
How many people know your brand exists and recognise it. Hard to measure directly, but it makes every other marketing effort cheaper.
The point where your revenue exactly covers your costs — no profit, no loss. After this, you start making money.
A smaller, quick raise to give you more runway to reach the next big milestone. A "down round" is a raise at a lower valuation than before.
मुनाफ़े में आने से पहले आपकी कंपनी हर महीने (कमाई से ज़्यादा) कितनी नकदी खर्च करती है।
एक नया भुगतान करने वाला ग्राहक पाने के लिए औसतन कितना खर्च होता है — आपकी कुल मार्केटिंग और बिक्री लागत को नए ग्राहकों की संख्या से भाग देने पर।
How long it takes to earn back the money you spent acquiring a customer. Shorter is better — you recover cash faster.
The direct cost of producing what you sell — materials, manufacturing, delivery. Not overheads like rent or salaries of non-production staff.
What it costs, on average, for one desired action from an ad — like a sign-up, download or sale. Similar to CAC but usually measured per campaign or action.
How much you pay each time someone clicks your ad.
What you pay, on average, to get one potential customer (a lead) to show interest — before they actually buy.
The cost to show your ad 1,000 times. Used when the goal is visibility rather than clicks.
The software where you track every customer and deal — who you spoke to, what was said, and what happens next.
The total a company spends on an employee in a year — not just salary, but bonuses, benefits, PF and other perks added together. It's usually more than the take-home pay.
The share of people who click your ad or link after seeing it. A quick read on how compelling it is.
A list of everyone who owns a piece of the company — founders, investors, employees with options — and how much each holds.
CapEx is money spent on things you keep for years, like machines or laptops. OpEx is the day-to-day running cost, like salaries and rent.
The maximum your team or setup can handle before quality drops or things break.
The actual money moving in and out of your business. You can be profitable on paper but still run out of cash if money comes in late.
किसी अवधि में आप कितने प्रतिशत ग्राहक (या आय) खो देते हैं। ज़्यादा चर्न यानी लोग लगातार छोड़ रहे हैं।
A group of users who started at the same time, tracked together so you can see how behaviour changes over their lifetime.
Keeping up with the filings, taxes and rules your business is legally required to follow. Boring until you skip it, then expensive.
The share of people who take the action you want — sign up, buy, subscribe — out of everyone who had the chance.
A loan from an investor that later converts into shares instead of being paid back in cash — often with a discount as a reward for investing early.
Automatic ownership of original creative work you produce — writing, code, designs, video. You get it the moment you create it; registration just makes it easier to prove.
Selling an existing customer a different product alongside what they already bought.
How many unique people use your product each day (DAU) and each month (MAU). Their ratio shows how "sticky" — habit-forming — the product is.
The average number of days customers take to pay you. High DSO means profitable on paper but short of cash in reality.
How much revenue a typical closed deal brings in. Bigger deals justify more sales effort per customer.
Spreading the cost of something expensive across the years you use it, instead of counting it all in the month you bought it.
When new shares are issued (to investors or employees), each existing owner's percentage of the company shrinks — even though the company is usually worth more overall.
Raising money at a lower valuation than your previous round. Painful for existing shareholders, but often better than running out of cash.
The investigation an investor or buyer runs before committing money — checking your books, contracts, cap table and legal filings for surprises.
A measure of a company's core operating profit, before accounting effects like interest, tax and asset write-downs. It shows how the business does at its heart.
A pool of shares set aside to give employees ownership in the company, usually earned over time. A key way startups attract talent without huge salaries.
The share of people who actually did something with your content — liked, commented, shared or clicked — rather than scrolling past.
Ownership in a company, held as shares. If you own 10% of the equity, you own 10% of whatever the company is eventually worth.
The event where shareholders finally turn their shares into cash — usually the company being acquired or going public.
Extra money earned from customers you already have, by upgrading them or selling them more.
Fixed costs stay the same no matter how much you sell, like rent. Variable costs rise with each sale, like packaging and delivery.
A written agreement between co-founders covering who owns how much, who does what, and what happens if someone leaves. Signed early, while everyone still agrees.
Giving a useful version away free and charging for advanced features. Works only when the free tier is cheap to serve and the paid one is genuinely worth it.
Everything that happens after a customer places an order: picking the item, packing it, shipping it and handling returns.
The step-by-step journey people take from first hearing about you to becoming a customer. It narrows at each step, like a funnel.
The total value of everything sold through your platform before your own cut or costs. Common for marketplaces.
India’s tax on the sale of goods and services. Once your turnover crosses the threshold you must register, charge it on invoices, and file returns.
Your plan for reaching customers and getting them to buy — which channels, messaging, pricing and sales approach you use.
The share of each sale left over after the direct cost of making it — before overheads. Higher margins give you more room to grow.
A clear description of the exact type of customer who benefits most from your product and is easiest to sell to and keep.
How many times your ad or post was displayed. One person seeing it five times counts as five impressions.
The legal act of registering your business with the government so it exists as its own entity. Until you incorporate, you and the business are the same thing in the eyes of the law.
Programmes that support early startups with mentorship, workspace and sometimes money. Accelerators run for a fixed period and usually take equity.
Things your business created that it legally owns even though you cannot touch them — your code, brand name, designs and inventions.
The goods you are holding and have not sold yet. It is cash sitting on a shelf — too little and you miss sales, too much and you are broke but full of stock.
The formal bill you send a customer listing what they bought and when payment is due.
Ordering stock only as you need it instead of holding large amounts. Frees up cash but leaves no cushion if a supplier is late.
A key number you track to know whether you are succeeding at something important.
A business structure where partners share ownership but are not personally responsible for the business debts. Cheaper to run than a company, but you cannot issue shares to investors.
एक ग्राहक से पूरे रिश्ते के दौरान आपको जितनी कुल कमाई की उम्मीद है।
How much a customer is worth compared with what it cost to get them. Investors like to see this at 3× or higher.
A single focused page a visitor arrives at from an ad or link, built to get them to do one specific thing.
A person or company that has shown some interest and might become a customer.
The investor who sets the terms and puts in the largest share of a round. Others usually follow once a lead commits.
How long it takes from placing an order to actually receiving it. Longer lead times force you to hold more stock.
A term that decides who gets paid first (and how much) if the company is sold. A "1× preference" means investors get their money back before founders see anything.
The moving and storing of goods — warehousing, transport and delivery to the customer.
An MQL looks interested based on their behaviour. An SQL has been spoken to and genuinely has the need, budget and authority to buy.
सदस्यता (subscription) वाले व्यवसाय की हर महीने मिलने वाली निश्चित आय।
The smallest version of your product that still delivers value, built quickly so you can learn from real users before investing more.
A business that connects two groups — buyers and sellers — and takes a cut, without owning the inventory itself.
The two founding documents of a company. The MoA says what the company is allowed to do; the AoA says how it will be run internally.
A written statement that two parties intend to work together. It records the plan but is usually not fully binding on its own.
A lasting advantage that makes it hard for competitors to copy or beat you — like a strong brand, network effects, or unique technology.
A contract where two sides promise to keep shared information secret. Common before sharing sensitive plans or code.
A simple loyalty score from −100 to +100 based on one question: "How likely are you to recommend us?" Higher means happier customers.
How much revenue you keep from existing customers after upgrades and cancellations. Above 100% means you grow even with zero new customers.
The percentage of revenue you actually keep after every single cost, including tax and interest. The true bottom line.
When your product becomes more valuable to each user as more people join.
A clause stopping someone from joining or starting a competing business for a set period after they leave.
The single number that best captures the value your product delivers — the one metric the whole team rallies around.
A goal-setting method: an ambitious Objective plus a few measurable Key Results that show whether you achieved it.
The first-run experience that takes someone from signing up to actually using the product successfully.
What percentage of revenue is left after paying both the cost of the product and the cost of running the business.
एक अवधि की आय और खर्च का सारांश, जो बताता है कि लाभ हुआ या हानि। इसे आय विवरण भी कहते हैं।
Exclusive legal rights over an invention for a fixed number of years, in exchange for publishing how it works.
The short slide presentation used to explain your business to investors — problem, solution, market, traction, team and ask.
Changing a fundamental part of your business — the product, the customer or the model — because the evidence says the current one is not working.
Pre-money is what your company is valued at before the new investment; post-money is that plus the money coming in. The difference decides how much of the company the investor gets.
The most common company structure for Indian startups. The company is legally separate from its founders, so business debts stay with the business, and it can issue shares to investors.
The process of finding suppliers and buying what your business needs, at the right price and quality.
The degree to which a product satisfies strong market demand — usually signalled by high retention and users who would be very disappointed without it.
वह स्थिति जब आपने किसी बाज़ार की सच्ची ज़रूरत पूरी करने वाला उत्पाद बना लिया हो — मज़बूत रिटेंशन इसका संकेत है।
A rough, non-working version of an idea used to get feedback before anyone writes real code.
Checking work before it reaches the customer, so problems are caught internally rather than in a review.
विज्ञापन पर खर्च किए हर रुपये से कितनी आय वापस आती है। ROAS 4 का मतलब ₹1 पर ₹4 कमाई।
किसी चीज़ पर आपने जितना खर्च किया, उसके मुकाबले कितना फ़ायदा (या नुकसान) हुआ — प्रतिशत में।
How many different people saw your content, counting each person once no matter how often they saw it.
A new customer who came because an existing one recommended you. Usually your cheapest and highest-quality source of growth.
Showing ads specifically to people who already visited your site but did not buy.
The share of customers who keep using your product over time. The opposite of churn — high retention is a sign of a product people love.
The plan of what you intend to build and roughly when. A direction, not a promise.
मौजूदा खर्च की रफ्तार पर पैसा खत्म होने से पहले आप कितने महीने चला सकते हैं।
A simple fundraising contract where an investor gives you money now in exchange for shares later, usually at your next priced round. Quick and founder-friendly.
Improving your website so it ranks higher in unpaid Google/search results, bringing free traffic over time.
A promise to a customer about the level of service they will get — response time, uptime, delivery speed — often with penalties if you miss it.
A written step-by-step guide for a repeated task, so anyone on the team does it the same way without asking.
Software you use over the internet for a recurring subscription instead of buying and installing it once.
How long it takes on average from first contact to a signed deal. Longer cycles mean you need more cash to survive the wait.
All the potential deals you are currently working on, organised by how close each is to closing.
Whether you can serve many more customers without your costs or effort rising just as fast.
Usually the first meaningful outside money, raised to find product-market fit rather than to scale.
The round after seed, raised once you have proof the model works and want to scale it. Investors expect real numbers, not just a story.
The binding contract signed when investors put money in. It turns the promises in the term sheet into enforceable rights about voting, board seats and selling shares.
A short fixed period, usually one or two weeks, in which the team commits to finishing a specific set of work.
How often your monthly users come back within the month. A high ratio means the product is part of their routine.
Charging a repeating fee for ongoing access instead of a one-time price. Predictable revenue, but you must keep earning it every month.
Everything it takes to get a product from raw material to your customer’s hands — suppliers, manufacturing, storage and delivery.
Three sizes of your market: TAM = everyone who could ever buy; SAM = the slice you can actually serve; SOM = the realistic share you can win soon.
Shortcuts taken to ship faster that make future changes slower. Like a loan — fine briefly, expensive if never repaid.
A short, mostly non-binding document that lays out the key terms of an investment before the full legal paperwork is drawn up.
How much work actually gets completed in a period — orders shipped per day, tickets closed per hour.
How long a new user takes to get their first real benefit. The longer it takes, the more people give up first.
Evidence that people actually want what you built — growing users, revenue or usage. The thing investors look for before anything else.
Legal protection for your brand name and logo, so competitors cannot trade under a confusingly similar identity.
How long you take to finish a task from the moment it arrives — a support ticket, a repair, an order.
The profit or loss from a single customer or sale. If each unit loses money, growing faster just loses money faster.
Getting an existing customer to spend more — by upgrading to a higher plan or adding features.
A short profile of a typical user — their job, goals and frustrations — used to keep decisions grounded in a real person.
A feature written from the user’s point of view, describing what they want and why, rather than how to build it.
How much your company is judged to be worth. 'Pre-money' is the value before new investment; 'post-money' is pre-money plus the money raised.
Any outside company you buy goods or services from to run your business.
Firms that invest other people’s money into high-growth startups in exchange for equity, expecting a small number of large wins.
Earning your shares or options gradually over time, so you have to stay to fully own them. A "cliff" means you earn nothing until a first milestone (often one year).
How much your users bring in new users by themselves. A K-factor above 1 means each user brings more than one new user — organic, self-fuelling growth.
The share of deals you actually close out of every deal you seriously pursued.
The short-term money available to run day-to-day operations — what you own that can quickly become cash, minus what you owe soon.