Startup Glossary – Idea Stage Terminologies

Compiled by Karthikeyani M., Associate – Incubation at SSN iFound

1. Business Model Canvas: A visual tool that helps you map out key components of your startup’s business model, including customer segments, value proposition, revenue streams, and more.
2. Competitive Analysis: Evaluating your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses to identify opportunities and threats.
3. Customer Persona: A detailed profile of your ideal customer, including demographics, interests, and pain points.
4. Elevator Pitch: A concise and compelling summary of your startup idea that can be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator.
5. Feasibility Study: An analysis of whether your startup idea is practical and can be executed successfully.
6. Founder’s Agreement: A legal document outlining the roles, responsibilities, and equity distribution among startup founders.
7. Idea Generation: The process of brainstorming and generating potential startup ideas.
8. Idea Incubation: The period during which an idea is refined and developed before moving to the execution phase.
9. Idea Pitch Competition: Competitions or events where entrepreneurs pitch their startup ideas to win prizes or funding.
10. Idea Validation: The process of confirming that your startup idea is worth pursuing before investing significant time and resources.
11. Innovation: The process of creating something new or significantly improving existing products or services.
12. Lean Canvas: A one-page business model template that helps you articulate your startup concept, including customer segments, problem, solution, and channels.
13. Lean Startup: An approach that emphasizes building a minimal product and rapidly testing it in the market to learn and iterate.
14. Market Gap: An unmet need or opportunity in the market that your startup aims to address.
15. Market Research: The process of gathering and analyzing information about potential customers, competitors, and the overall market to validate your startup idea.
16. Market Segmentation: Dividing the market into distinct groups of potential customers based on common characteristics.
17. Market Validation: Confirming that there is a real demand for your product or service in the market.
18. Minimum Viable Product (MVP): The most basic version of your product with just enough features to gather feedback and validate your concept.
19. Pitch Deck: A presentation summarizing your startup’s business plan for potential investors.
20. Problem-Solution Fit: Ensuring that your idea effectively addresses a real problem or pain point in the market.
21. Proof of Concept (POC): A demonstration that your idea is technically feasible and can work in practice.
22. Prototype: A preliminary model or version of your product, often used for testing and demonstration purposes
23. Prototype Testing: Collecting feedback and insights from users to refine your prototype and validate your concept.
24. SWOT Analysis: An assessment of your startup’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
25. Sustainability: Ensuring that your startup concept is environmentally and socially responsible.
26. Value Proposition: A clear statement describing the unique value your product or service offers to customers.