Business and metrics

https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/business
Last changed: 2026-11-14. Dates track content changes, not independent source checks.

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• Hard tech

  Concept

  Companies whose product rests on physical engineering or new science, such as machines, materials…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• SaaS

  Concept

  Software as a service.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Intellectual property

  Concept

  Things you create that can be owned, such as code, designs, brand names and inventions.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Go-to-market

  Concept

  Your plan for reaching customers and getting them to buy: who you go after first, where you find…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Usage-based pricing

  Concept

  A way to charge where the bill follows how much the customer uses, instead of a flat fee.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• B2B / B2C

  Concept

  Who you sell to.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Social media

  Concept

  Sites and apps where people share posts, photos and videos and follow each other, such as…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Revenue

  Concept

  All the money customers pay your business, before any costs are taken out.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Payments

  Concept

  The service that lets a company charge customers' cards and bank accounts and receive the money.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Ecommerce

  Concept

  Selling products or services online, with a store website, a cart and online payments.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Government contracting

  Concept

  Selling products or services to a government agency under a formal contract.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• KPI

  Concept

  Key performance indicator.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Pilot

  Concept

  A small, time-limited trial of a product with one customer, run to learn whether the product works…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Programmatic advertising

  Concept

  Buying and selling online ad space automatically through software, often in auctions that run in a…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Retention

  Concept

  The share of customers who keep using or paying for your product over time.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Burn rate

  Concept

  How fast your company is using up its cash, usually counted per month.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• CAC

  Concept

  Customer acquisition cost.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• CRM

  Concept

  Customer relationship management.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Licensing

  Concept

  Letting another party use something you own, such as software, a patent or a brand, in exchange…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Online advertising

  Concept

  Paying to show ads on search engines, social media, websites and apps, often aimed at specific…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Profit

  Concept

  What is left of your revenue after every cost is paid.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Runway

  Concept

  How many months your company can keep going before the money in the bank runs out, if spending…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Sales funnel

  Concept

  The stages people move through from first hearing about a product to buying it.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Cloud service agreement

  Concept

  A contract between a company that sells cloud software and a business that buys it.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• MRR

  Concept

  Monthly recurring revenue.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Sales cycle

  Concept

  The steps and time from a first conversation with a prospect to a signed deal.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Traction

  Concept

  Proof that real people want what you are building, such as paying customers, growing use or signed…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Business model

  Concept

  How your company makes money: who pays, what they pay for and how often.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Email marketing

  Concept

  Sending planned emails to a list of people who signed up, such as newsletters, announcements and…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Lead generation

  Concept

  Finding and collecting contact details of people or companies who might buy, so sales can follow up.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Master services agreement

  Concept

  A contract that sets the general terms between a client and a provider once (payment, ownership of…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Pricing tiers

  Concept

  The set of plans a product sells, from a cheap or free starting plan up to plans for large…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Spreadsheet

  Concept

  A grid of rows and columns for numbers and lists, with formulas that calculate totals.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Bill of materials

  Concept

  A complete list of the parts, materials and quantities needed to build a product.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Bookings

  Concept

  The total value of the contracts customers signed in a period.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Call to action

  Concept

  The one next step a page, email or ad asks the reader to take, such as 'Book a demo' or 'Start…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Cash flow

  Concept

  The timing of money coming into and going out of a business.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Conversion rate optimization

  Concept

  Improving a website or app so a larger share of visitors take the action you want, such as signing…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Letter of intent

  Concept

  A short document that sets out what two parties intend to agree on, such as a purchase once a…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Managed service provider

  Concept

  An outside company that runs part of another organization's technology for a monthly fee, such as…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• NDA

  Concept

  Non-disclosure agreement.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Pay-per-click advertising

  Concept

  Online ads where you pay each time someone clicks, most often shown beside search results.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Retainer

  Concept

  An ongoing services arrangement where a client pays a set amount each month to reserve a…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Revenue share

  Concept

  An arrangement where partners split the revenue a product or deal brings in by an agreed…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Search engine optimization

  Concept

  Making a website easier for search engines to understand and more likely to show up when people…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• TAM

  Concept

  Total addressable market.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Video conferencing

  Concept

  Meeting with people over live video and audio on a computer or phone.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• AI addendum

  Concept

  An add-on to a software contract for a product that uses AI.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Cold outreach

  Concept

  Contacting people who do not know you yet, by email, phone or message, to start a sales or…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Cyber liability insurance

  Concept

  Insurance that helps pay the costs of a data breach or cyberattack, such as investigation…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Developer relations

  Concept

  A role, often at platform companies, that helps outside developers use the company's tools through…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Engagement letter

  Concept

  A short contract that starts a professional services relationship.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• ERP

  Concept

  Enterprise resource planning.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Fixed-price engagement

  Concept

  A services deal where the client pays one agreed price for a defined result, no matter how many…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Gross margin

  Concept

  The part of each sale you keep after paying the direct cost of making and delivering what you sold.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Joint development agreement

  Concept

  A contract between two organizations that build something together.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Per-seat pricing

  Concept

  A way to charge for software where the customer pays for each person who uses it.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Retargeting

  Concept

  Showing ads to people who already visited your site or used your app, to bring them back.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Time and materials

  Concept

  A way to pay for services by the hour or day worked, plus costs, instead of a set price for the…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Unit economics

  Concept

  Whether you make or lose money on one customer or one sale, once you count what it cost to win and…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Ad exchange

  Concept

  The digital marketplace where ad space from sellers is auctioned to advertisers in real time.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Affiliate marketing

  Concept

  Paying partners a commission when people they refer, usually through a special link, make a…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• ARR

  Concept

  Annual recurring revenue.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Break-even

  Concept

  The point where the money coming in equals the money going out, so the business is no longer…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Business associate agreement

  Concept

  A contract that US health privacy law (HIPAA) requires before a clinic, health plan or other…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Churn rate

  Concept

  The share of your customers who stop paying or stop using your product during a set period, such…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Commission

  Concept

  Pay that is a share of the sales a person brings in, rather than, or on top of, a fixed salary.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• CPM

  Concept

  Cost per thousand impressions.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Data management platform

  Concept

  Software that collects and organizes audience data, such as interests and past behavior, so…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Data processing agreement

  Concept

  A contract that says how a service provider may handle personal data for its customer: what it may…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• DAU / MAU

  Concept

  Daily active users and monthly active users.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Default alive

  Concept

  A phrase from investor Paul Graham.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Demand-side platform

  Concept

  Software that advertisers use to buy ad space across many websites and apps automatically, with…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• EBITDA

  Concept

  Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• EdTech

  Concept

  Education technology: software and devices for teaching and learning, and the market of companies…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• IRS Section 7216

  Concept

  A US tax rule that limits how tax return preparers may use or disclose clients' tax return…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Omnichannel

  Concept

  Handling a customer across every channel, such as phone, email, chat, text and in person, as one…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Order form

  Concept

  A short document that records one purchase under a contract already in place: what the customer…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Original equipment manufacturer

  Concept

  A company that makes products or parts that another company sells or builds into its own products…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Partnership agreement

  Concept

  A contract between two companies that work together to sell, market or support their products, for…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Referral fee

  Concept

  A one-time payment to someone for introducing a customer or deal that closes.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Request for proposal

  Concept

  A document a buyer, often a government or large company, publishes to invite vendors to bid on a…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Spinout

  Concept

  A new, separate company created from part of an existing company, university or lab, often taking…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Supply-side platform

  Concept

  Software that websites and apps use to sell their ad space automatically to many buyers at once.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Value-based pricing

  Concept

  Setting a price based on how much the result is worth to the customer, not on how much it costs…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• White label

  Concept

  A product or service made by one company that another company sells under its own name.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Win rate

  Concept

  The share of deals or bids you pursue that you actually win.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Accounts receivable

  Concept

  Money customers owe you for work already delivered or goods already sold, but have not paid yet.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Answer engine optimization

  Concept

  Making your content easy for AI chat and AI search tools to find, understand and cite when they…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Beachhead market

  Concept

  A small, specific first market a startup aims to win completely before expanding to others.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Business process outsourcing

  Concept

  Hiring an outside firm to run a business function, such as customer support, billing or data entry.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Campaign budget optimization

  Concept

  An ad platform setting that shares one budget across several ad groups and moves money…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Change management

  Concept

  Planning and supporting the people side of a change, such as a new tool or process, so staff…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Continuing professional education

  Concept

  Ongoing training that licensed professionals, such as accountants, must complete each year to keep…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Contract amendment

  Concept

  A short signed document that changes, adds to or clarifies the terms of a contract already in…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• FAANG

  Concept

  Shorthand for a handful of the largest US tech companies, originally Facebook, Apple, Amazon…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• General contractor

  Concept

  The company that manages a construction project and hires and coordinates the specialist…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Geotargeting

  Concept

  Showing ads or content only to people in a chosen place, such as a city or a few miles around a…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Lead magnet

  Concept

  Something useful given away free, such as a guide or template, in exchange for a person's contact…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• LTV

  Concept

  Lifetime value.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Microtransaction

  Concept

  A small purchase inside an app or game, such as extra lives or a cosmetic item.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• NAICS code

  Concept

  A number from the North American Industry Classification System that labels what industry a…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Net promoter score

  Concept

  A survey score based on one question: how likely are you to recommend us, from 0 to 10.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Offline attribution

  Concept

  Connecting sales or sign-ups that happen outside a website, such as in a store or over the phone…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• OKRs

  Concept

  Objectives and key results.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Price anchoring

  Concept

  Showing a reference number first so that the real price is judged against it.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Sales engineer

  Concept

  A technical expert on a sales team who explains how a product works, answers technical questions…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Standard Occupational Classification

  Concept

  The official US system that sorts jobs into numbered occupations.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Standard operating procedure

  Concept

  Written step-by-step instructions for doing a routine task the same way every time.

  Last changed: 2026-11-14

• Moat

  Concept

  An advantage that makes it hard for competitors to copy your business or take your customers, such…

  Last changed: 2026-11-14