New to the startup world? Here's a quick glossary of terms you'll hear a lot at Tectonic.
Seed round
The first official round of funding a startup raises, usually used to validate an idea and reach initial product-market fit.
Series A / B / C
Funding rounds that follow the seed round, each typically larger and used to scale the business further.
VC (Venture Capital)
Investment firms that fund high-growth startups in exchange for equity, usually from Series A onward.
Angel investor
An individual — often a former founder — who invests their own money in early-stage startups, typically before or alongside a seed round.
MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
The simplest version of a product that still lets a startup test its core idea with real users.
Runway
How many months a startup can keep operating before it runs out of cash, at its current spending rate.
Burn rate
How quickly a startup is spending its cash each month.
Equity
Ownership in a company, usually expressed as a percentage of shares.
Cap table
A table listing who owns what percentage of a company — founders, employees, and investors.
Term sheet
A non-binding document outlining the key terms of an investment, agreed before the final legal contracts.
Valuation
An estimate of how much a company is worth, often set during a funding round.
Bootstrapping
Building a company using personal savings or revenue, without raising outside investment.
Pitch deck
A short slide presentation founders use to explain their startup to investors.
Unicorn
A privately held startup valued at $1 billion or more.
Exit
The event where founders and investors cash out their equity, usually through an acquisition or IPO.