Startup Glossary

The Venture Ecosystem comprises all stakeholders involved in the startup landscape, including investors, entrepreneurs, incubators, accelerators, and service providers, contributing to the growth and success of startups.

A Vesting Cliff is the period of time before shares in an employee stock option plan or benefits in a retirement plan are unconditionally owned by an employee.

Venture Philanthropy applies venture capital financing principles to achieve philanthropic endeavors, focusing on accountability, and results.

Venture Scaling refers to the process of expanding a startup`s operations, market presence, and revenue streams rapidly and effectively.

Venture Syndication occurs when multiple investors come together to invest in a single venture, sharing the risk and rewards.

A Vertical Acquisition is when a company acquires another company in the same industry but at a different point in the supply chain.

Vertical Integration is a strategy where a company expands its business operations into different steps on the same production path.

A Vertical Market is a market defined by a specific industry or demographic that specialized products or services cater to.

Vertical Scalability is the ability of a startup to increase its capacity by adding more resources to the existing infrastructure, such as hardware or software upgrades.

The Vesting Period is the time during which an employee must wait to gain full control over their stock options or retirement plan benefits as an incentive to stay with the company.

A Vesting Schedule is a timeline over which an employee earns access to company stock or another form of compensation as part of their employment package.

A Viable Minimum Product is the most pared-down version of a product that can still be released as a minimum viable product to begin the process of learning as quickly as possible.

A Viable Product is a product that has enough features to attract early-adopter customers and validate a product idea early in the product development cycle.

A Video Pitch is a short video presentation by entrepreneurs to potential investors, outlining their business model, product, market opportunity, and funding needs.

The Viral Coefficient is a measure of how many new users an existing user generates, indicating the potential for exponential growth through referrals.

Viral Marketing is a business strategy that uses existing social networks to promote a product mainly through word-of-mouth.

A Virtual Accelerator offers remote support and resources for startups, including mentorship, education, and sometimes funding, without the need for physical presence.

A Virtual CFO (Chief Financial Officer) offers financial strategy services to businesses remotely, providing expertise without the cost of a full-time CFO.

Virtual Equity refers to non-traditional forms of equity compensation, such as phantom stock or stock appreciation rights, which provide benefits based on company performance without conveying actual stock ownership.

A Virtual Incubator provides remote support services and resources to startups, including mentorship, networking opportunities, and sometimes funding, leveraging digital platforms.