Glossary

Preferred return is a priority payout rate investors receive before founders get profits. It acts as a hurdle rate that secures investor capital cost before profit sharing begins.

Workers’ compensation is mandatory insurance covering injury costs and lost wages. This article explains how premiums work, the legal trade-offs, and the complexities of remote teams.

An exploration of why the specific connection between a founder and their industry is often more critical than the initial product idea itself.

An employee handbook is a manual outlining company policies and procedures. It serves as a central resource for setting expectations and scaling culture beyond the founding team.

Mental models are internal frameworks that help founders simplify complexity, make better decisions, and understand how the real world operates within a business context.

A health score is a consolidated metric used to evaluate customer retention and growth potential by aggregating usage data and interaction history into a single, actionable value.

Fully diluted shares represent the total equity count if all convertibles exercised. This metric is crucial for understanding true ownership and negotiating investor term sheets.

Velocity measures the rate of work completion or revenue generation. It combines speed with direction to help founders predict timelines and manage team capacity effectively.

Pipeline velocity measures the speed at which leads move through your sales process to generate revenue, providing a critical diagnostic tool for startup health and predictable scaling.

Operating Cash Flow tracks cash generated from daily business activities. It strips away financing and investment noise to reveal if your core business model is actually sustainable.