Parkinson’s Law describes the observation that work often expands to fill the time available for its completion. If a team allocates more time to a task than is necessary, it may still end up using up the entire period.
ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) refers to the value of a company’s regularly recurring revenue, extrapolated over a year. This metric is particularly important for start-ups with subscription or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business models.
Business-to-Consumer (B2C) refers to business relationships in which companies sell products or services to private end customers. These offerings are aimed at people who use them for their personal needs rather than for business purposes.
Business-to-Business (B2B) refers to business relationships between companies. In this context, one company sells products or services to other companies, which use them, for example, for their business processes, production or resale.
A ‘buying centre’ refers to the people and roles within a company who are involved in, or influence, a purchasing decision. Particularly in the business-to-business (B2B) sector, the decision to purchase a product or service is often made jointly by several parties.
A beachhead market is a clearly defined market segment on which a start-up initially focuses when entering the market. Rather than targeting many different audiences at once, the company selects a particularly promising entry market.
Benchmarking is a method whereby companies systematically compare their performance, processes or key performance indicators with those of other companies or recognised benchmarks. The aim is to identify strengths and weaknesses, uncover areas for improvement and learn from successful practices.
An investment agreement is a legal contract that sets out the terms and conditions of an investment in a company. In the context of start-up funding, it specifically sets out how much capital investors are to provide, what share of the company they will receive in return, and the conditions under which the investment is made.
A start-up’s valuation refers to the estimated value of a start-up, or the value agreed upon as part of a funding round. It plays a particularly important role in funding rounds because it determines what share of the company investors receive in return for their capital.