You have just founded your start-up and would now like to establish your professional contacts (Business networking: tips and tricks of an active network) expand and collect new ideas. It stands Founder events, demo days, trade fairs and so on. But after a few discussions with other founders, you will quickly realize how important start-up knowledge is and how competent business speech plays a beneficial role. Of course, technical terms are not only important when it comes to networking, but also in everyday professional life as a founder. The business is fast-paced and new terms are constantly being developed even in the start-up scene. You should therefore be open to new expressions and always be up to date.
For this reason, we have selected the most important terms for you, categorically divided them and tried to define them in a few sentences. Long story short: Here is our “Start-up glossary” with 50 technical terms!
Content marketing is a marketing method, which, in contrast to the usual marketing strategy, does not market the product but offers valuable content (blog posts, e-books, tutorials, white papers, podcasts, etc.) for customer loyalty. The aim is not to immediately encourage the potential customer to buy the product or service, but to create added value through free content. The main goals of content marketing are to generate leads, increase awareness, build brand and build a community.
CTA is a Call to action in marketing. These can be, for example, in the form of a button, such as “Download now” or even in a TV commercial, an invitation to buy a product.
Die click-through rate is a key figure that represents the number of clicks on advertising banners or sponsor links in relation to total impressions.
Die conversion rate shows the ratio between the number of all visitors to the website and the number of people who have performed a specific action.
Translated into German”Cost per action“CPA refers to a billing model in marketing. With this billing model, the affiliate receives compensation when the user, who has lost their way to their website, carries out an action. In other words, when the user signs up for the newsletter or clicks on a banner.
Under the technical term branding or brand building This means establishing a brand through targeted advertising. An attempt is made to link specific messages, objects or signs with the product and the brand. Branding is an important part of successfully marketing products.
With the technical term networking, translated into German networks This is the connection to other people and, in our context, the development of a professional contact network. The aim of networking is to achieve benefits from these contacts, such as customer acquisition.
Corporate design describes that visual appearance of a company internally and externally. Through formal design constants such as company logo, font or color, the company should appear as a unit.
The term venture capital means Equity, which investors outside stock exchanges make available. This capital flows primarily into start-ups that are involved in innovative areas such as the IT sector. No one can predict how such companies will develop: From insolvency to billions in turnover, anything is possible. As a result of these uncertainties, banks rarely lend to such start-ups.
[Source: Reschnungswesen-verstehen.de]
As you can tell from the name, business angels are”guardian angel“the start-up scene. Behind them are experienced entrepreneurs who support young founders financially and with practical experience. They usually invest around 100.00 euros. But what you should know is that business angels mainly invest in the seed and/or start-up phase of a young start-up. However, it is not so easy to find a business angel. There is no central “Business Angel Register”. However, there are business angel networks that could help you with your search.
Crowdfunding is a form of financing (English “funding”) by a crowd of Internet users. Donations or contributions are made via personal homepages, professional websites and special platforms.
[Source: Business lexicon.gabler.de]
Bootstrapping is another form of start-up financing. With this type of financing, the start-up's strategy and the implementation of the start-up project are adapted to a very tight budget and scarce resources. The aim is to avoid spending while maximizing income. Bootstrap financing is particularly advisable when setting up a company using the low-budget model.
Augmented reality: Reality is in the foreground and is supplemented by digital information or overlays in real time. Compatible with modern smartphones or AR headsets such as Microsoft Hololens.
Expanded virtuality: Projection of real objects onto a virtual world. VR-compatible headsets such as HTC Vive or Oculus Rift are required.
Mixed reality: A collective term for all technologies that are located between the undistorted, real world and complete virtual reality (e.g. AR or AV).
Virtual reality: Virtual reality is a world created by a computer (virtual) without real objects.
You can find more details about extended reality here in our article: Extended reality: These are the realities of the future!
Research on “intelligent” problem-solving behavior and creating “intelligent” computer systems. Artificial intelligence (AI) deals with methods that enable a computer to solve tasks that, when solved by humans, require intelligence.
[Source: Business lexicon.gabler.de]
The term “big data” describes the big quantity on structured and unstructured data, which flood companies day after day. It is not the data itself that important. What counts is what companies do with the data. Large amounts of data can be analyzed in order to gain insights and use them to make better decisions and strategically orient the company.
[Source: sas.com]
A blockchain makes it possible to transmit information in a forgery-proof manner using a decentralized database shared by many participants, so that copies are excluded. The database is also known as a distributed register or general ledger (distributed ledger). It is stored on many computers in a peer-to-peer network, with each new node taking over a complete copy of the blockchain when it joins and now has the task of verifying and documenting transactions.
[Source: www.computerwoche.de]
Bitcoin is a digital currency based on blockchain technology. Bitcoins are created without the involvement of central banks by calculating blocks that contain transactions and are created through cryptographic calculations in the course of so-called mining.
[Source: www.gabler-banklexikon.de]
Lean Startup is an approach for setting up companies and implementing business ideas. The focus is on lean processes and learning through iterative and customer-focused testing. Through continuous customer feedback and testing of hypotheses, conclusions are drawn as early as possible in product development. This keeps the process streamlined and reduces the probability of failure. Lean Startup describes this process as a “Build-Measure-Learn cycle.”
[Source: etventure.de]
The pitch deck is becoming increasingly popular, especially in the start-up and investor scene. With the help of this short presentation Founders and start-ups, investors and investors try to convince them of their idea. On just a few presentation slides, start-ups present their team, their business idea and the competitive environment according to a defined scheme.
[Source: entrepreneur.de]
An accelerator or business accelerator, in German”accelerators“, offers start-ups support in early stage corporate development, for example through coaching, mentoring, financial aid and the provision of the necessary infrastructure. Accelerators are a valuable help for young companies, as these organizations are usually led by experts and have numerous contacts.
[Source: billomat.com]
Unique sales promise when positioning a service. By highlighting a unique benefit, the USP should differentiate one's own offering from competing offers and encourage consumers to buy. As a result of market saturation and objective interchangeability of products, the USP is becoming increasingly important.
[Source: Business lexicon.gabler.de]
unicorn: A unicorn describes a start-up company with a market valuation, before an IPO or exit, of over one billion US dollars. As Decacorn This is a start-up whose market value exceeds ten billion US dollars.
“As an early adopter, I immediately know when something new is on the market” — the guy probably thinks he's particularly clever. Is he something like the Early Bird?
In a sense, yes. He is one of the first to learn about technical news, the latest products and innovations. The early adopters are something like pioneers and opinion representativeswho are particularly open to change. The main features are high social status and high level of education. But remember, when you have him on your side, he convinces the majority. So don't mess it up with him.
[Source: ryte.com]
Return on investment literally means: The Return of investment; that is, capital. The ROI is therefore a calculation variable or a business key figure that provides information about when an investment has paid off and whether it is profitable.
[Source: microtech.de]
A value proposition is the value that you promise your customers after the purchase. A solid value proposition meets three criteria:
She is..
[Source: Shopify.de]
Growth hacking (also known as “growth marketing”) is the use of resource-saving and cost-effective marketing approaches that help build and retain an active user base, sell products, and gain notoriety. Think of “hacking” in terms of life hacks — those little abbreviations that make your life easier — instead of hideous code that ruins your computer.
[Source: www.optimizely.com/en]
B2B sales is marketing between companies. It is irrelevant whether they are goods or services. The clear distinction from B2C is important, because in B2B, a company is never the customer or consumer (i.e. the C). The abbreviation B2C can also be abbreviated as B-to-C. It means the relationships between companies and consumers. In the area of marketing, this means the direct contact of the end consumer by a company.
[Source: digital-sales.de]
In the start-up scene, the term exit refers to the departure of an investor from a start-up, i.e. the sale of the investment.
The word disruption comes from English. “To disrupt” means “interrupt” or “destroy.” Disruptive innovations are often described as “destructive” because they replace old business models or technologies. The invention of the smartphone largely replaced MP3 players, digital cameras, maps and newspapers. From this example, you can already see that disruptions do not necessarily completely destroy a market. Sometimes they just turn him upside down. New business models are developing.
[Source: gruenderplattform.de]
A term sheet is the result of negotiations between the current shareholders of a company (usually the founders of the start-up, but occasionally also investors already involved) and future investors (e.g. business angels, venture capital, in a wider sense, of course, private equity investors or any possible type of buyer).
[Source: capmatcherblog.com]
Sweat equity refers to benefits provided by founders and employees in startups that go beyond the salary received. It is therefore a form of self-financing, as some of your own work is invested free of charge. Highly qualified employees or founders in particular, who could earn significantly more in other professions, provide a lot of sweat equity.
[Source: foundersclub-ffm.de]
The break-even point, also known as break-even point, cost recovery point or break-even, is the point in business administration at which the revenue and costs of an investment equal zero. At this point, a company makes neither a profit nor a loss. As soon as the break-even point is exceeded, the company is in the black and generates profits. However, if the break-even point falls below, the company is at a loss and is in the red.
[Source: onpulson.de]
In German, compliance means”compliance with regulations” and describes strict compliance with rules and laws, but also that of an internal and self-imposed corporate code.
Hackathon consists of “hack” and “marathon.” This is where people meet to jointly develop software or hardware that is innovative, entertaining and/or useful during the course of the event. Many great products have already been invented this way!
This is how you check whether your (business) idea is feasible in principle. Here, too, crowdfunding is a good tool to find out. For example, if you're planning to sell a special calendar, you can set up a crowdfunding campaign and “play through” advertising, communication with customers, production, and shipping. If all of this works, you'll see that your business model is taking root.
[Source: startnext.com]
Stakeholders include all those who are directly or indirectly affected by the activities of a company in the present or future. It is the English term for interest groups or even stakeholders. Your claim is usually based on a specific interest in the course of a project, a process or, in general, the development of a company.
[Source: onpulson.de]
The SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool and compares the strengths and weaknesses of a company with the opportunities and risks arising from environmental development.
The planning tool brings together the internal and external perspectives of the company. It thus integrates strengths and weaknesses analysis and opportunity risk analysis to create the basis for a well-founded derivation of strategies.
[Source: onpulson.de]
Pre-Seed describes the period before the foundation. In this phase, the founding team is formed. People interested in starting up get together or are looking for colleagues to cover all necessary competencies. The business model is being developed. The product outline is continued, possibly even down to the prototype. The founding team writes its business plan or business canvas, clarifies further financing and contacts potential investors.
[Source: exist.de]
The company is founded and further detailed adjustments are ideally made to the product in consultation with potential clients. The business plan is constantly being adjusted; depending on growth dynamics, contacts must be made with investors for the next financing round. Employees are being hired. First steps are being taken to launch the product on the market — nationally and, if applicable, internationally.
[Source: exist.de]
Competitive analysis tool. Benchmarking is the continuous comparison of products, services, processes and methods with (several) companies in order to systematically close the performance gap to the so-called best in class (companies that have excellent command of processes, methods, etc.). The basic idea is to determine what differences exist, why these differences exist and what opportunities for improvement there are.
[Source: Business lexicon.gabler.de]
How often do users come back to use my product?
How many users use my product daily or at least monthly?
What percentage of my customers cancel the service?
How fast is my start-up growing?
How much money can I earn with a customer over the course of a product life cycle?
What are my monthly costs?
How long can my startup survive at the current burn rate before it has to file for bankruptcy?
Which metrics are particularly important for my start-up?
How much revenue does my startup generate per month or year?
Have we forgotten important technical terms from the start-up scene? Share it with us and we'll add to our glossary! Statements made by the author do not necessarily represent the opinion of Editorial team again.
