STARTUP

Money earned from delivering products/services during a period. Subscription cash collected upfront is generally recognized across the service period.

Value of contracts signed. A ₹12L annual contract can mean ₹12L bookings before all of it is recognized as revenue.

Direct cost of delivering the product: e.g. infrastructure, transaction fees and some support costs.

Revenue minus COGS. Gross margin = gross profit ÷ revenue.

OpEx runs the company: salaries, software, sales. CapEx buys assets providing value across multiple periods.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. A view of operating profitability, not cash flow.

The accounting bottom line after operating costs, interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Burn is cash consumed. Runway estimates how long available cash lasts at the current net burn.

Funded mainly by founders and/or operating revenue rather than institutional capital.

An angel invests personal capital. A VC fund invests pooled capital on behalf of its investors.

Informal financing-stage labels; there is no universal revenue or valuation boundary.

Value immediately before investment versus, in a simple priced round, pre-money plus new primary investment.

Outline of proposed economics and control: valuation, security, board rights, preference and more.

Review of financials, legal structure, IP, tax, customers, security and employment matters.

An instrument intended to convert into equity later under agreed mechanics such as a valuation cap or discount.

Debt intended to convert into equity, typically carrying interest and a maturity date.

Primary money enters the company for new shares; secondary money goes to an existing shareholder selling shares.

The lead anchors a round. Closing is when definitive documents, funds and securities actually move.

Record of shareholders, options and convertibles and their effect on ownership.

Founders/employees often hold ordinary equity; investors may receive preferred securities with additional rights.

Your percentage ownership falls when more shares are issued even if your own share count is unchanged.

Equity reserved for employee options. Creating or expanding the pool can dilute existing holders.

An option is a right to buy shares later; the strike price is what you pay per share to exercise it.

Equity is earned over time. Four years with a one-year cliff is common, not universal.

Ownership assuming relevant options and convertible securities become shares.

A contractual right to participate in later financing to help preserve ownership percentage.

Rules governing how specified investors receive proceeds in a sale/liquidation before or alongside common holders.

Contractual protection that may adjust conversion economics after certain lower-priced issuances.

Monthly and annual recurring revenue. ARR is commonly annualized recurring subscription revenue.

Annual contract value and average revenue per account.

Sales and marketing cost attributed to acquiring new customers.

Estimated lifetime economic value of a customer. Formula varies; margin-adjusted versions are usually more informative.

Time required for gross profit from a new customer to recover acquisition cost.

Percentage of customers lost during a period.

Existing-cohort recurring revenue after churn, contraction and expansion.

Revenue retention excluding expansion.

Capital-efficiency metric comparing net cash burn with incremental recurring revenue; conventions vary.

A heuristic combining growth with a profitability measure, often discussed for more mature SaaS companies.

Fixed cash compensation before variable pay, benefits and equity.

Cost to Company, common in India. It can include salary, employer contributions, benefits and variable components; it is not take-home pay.

Gross is before employee-side deductions; net is what reaches the employee after deductions.

Compensation dependent on targets, company performance or specified conditions.

An independent service provider rather than an employee. Classification must match the real relationship and local law.

Costs beyond salary: statutory contributions, benefits, equipment, recruiting, payroll and administration.

Contractual notice for resignation or termination, subject to applicable employment law.

Contractual assignment of eligible work product/inventions to the company — critical for people building the product.

Options or other equity awarded as compensation, normally with vesting and plan conditions.

The realistic total cost of employing someone rather than only their quoted salary.

Tax imposed on taxable company profits under the applicable jurisdiction's rules.

Transaction taxes on supplies. Registration, rates, place-of-supply and filing rules vary.

Eligible GST/VAT paid on business inputs may offset output tax, subject to local rules.

Tax withheld by a payer from specified payments and remitted to government. TDS is common Indian terminology.

Employer/employee statutory contributions and payroll deductions; schemes and thresholds depend on location.

Income tax paid during the year in installments where required.

A deduction reduces taxable income; a credit generally reduces tax payable.

Rules governing pricing of transactions between related entities, especially across borders.

A cross-border tax concept under which activity in another jurisdiction can create local taxable presence.

Formal audit requirements triggered by corporate or tax law; thresholds and scope vary.

The governing body with statutory/fiduciary responsibilities under applicable company law.

Someone permitted to attend board meetings without necessarily having a director's vote.

Specified corporate actions requiring special shareholder or investor consent.

Contractual consent rights protecting specified shareholders from particular actions.

Rights to receive periodic financial or operating information.

Contract governing rights, transfers, control and other agreed matters among shareholders/company.

A mechanism that can require specified minority holders to participate in an approved sale, subject to its terms.

A mechanism allowing specified holders to participate when another shareholder sells, subject to its terms.

Another company buys the startup's shares/assets or combines with it.

A process through which shares become publicly traded, subject to securities regulation and listing requirements.

An existing shareholder sells shares to another investor; proceeds generally go to the seller, not the company.

An organized offer to purchase shares from eligible existing shareholders under specified terms.

The transaction value is not automatically the amount common shareholders receive; debt, preferences, transaction structure and taxes matter.

The contractual order in which transaction proceeds are distributed among security holders.

An acquisition motivated substantially by obtaining the target company's team, though structure and economics vary.

Part of acquisition consideration paid later if specified post-closing conditions or performance targets are met.