Accelerator – An accelerator is a program to help newer start-up businesses improve their

growth. Accelerators are different from incubators in that they usually only work with start-
ups which already have a business plan and basic strategy in place.

Acquisition – An acquisition is when one company takes ownership of another, usually

smaller, company.

Agripreneurship is essentially entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector. Agripreneurship =

agriculture + entrepreneurship.

Angel – An angel is a type of investor, often a wealthy individual, who provides capital and
financial support to a fledgling start-up in return for an ownership percentage.

Business Model – A business model is a description of how an existing business or business

idea plans to achieve success, make a profit, and create value. Michael Lewis in his book,
The New, New Thing, puts it succinctly as “how you planned to make money.”

Business Model Canvas – A business model canvas (BMC) is a template meant to concisely
identify the main points of a business model in one simple diagram. There are usually 9 key
components of a business model canvas, which are:

 Key Partners
 Key Activities
 Primary Resources
 Customer Segments
 Client Relationships
 Value Propositions
 Cost Structure
 Channels
 Revenue Streams

Crowdfunding – Crowdfunding is the practice of raising money online through many small
donations from regular people, rather than one larger amount from an investor. The
popular website Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform.
Earlyvangelist – An early evangelist is a portmanteau neologism, short for “early evangelist,”
meaning an early adopter of a product or service.

Ecopreneur ship – Ecopreneur ship is entrepreneurship where a major, or perhaps the main,
focus of the business is to operate sustainably or to help the environment, such as through
recycling or fighting climate change. Ecopreneur ship is also known as environmental
entrepreneurship and green entrepreneurship.

Elevator Pitch – An elevator pitch is a short, to-the-point message from one person to
another to propose an idea, often business-related. A start-up founder might deliver an
elevator pitch to a potential investor seeking funding, for example. Read more on our guide
on how to make an elevator pitch.

Entrepreneurship – Entrepreneurship is the process of business creation, from ideation and

design through to execution and managing it. A person who starts their own business is
called an entrepreneur, and they can be described as entrepreneurial.

Environmental Entrepreneurship – See “Ecopreneur ship.”

Fintech – Fintech is a portmanteau word meaning “financial technology,” referring to

businesses and start-ups in the financial sector who use modern technology to facilitate
their business. Think Robinhood, Revolute, or Betterment.

Fledgling – Fledgling refers to a company or start up that is young, lacking experience, and
still struggling with their business ideas, business model, market, and products or services.

Green Entrepreneurship – See “Ecopreneur ship.”

Imagineer – An imaginer is someone capable of taking creative ideas or using their

imagination and turning them into reality, actual solutions. As a portmanteau of imagine
and engineer, the definition of imaginer is almost self-explanatory.

Incubator – An incubator is a program to assist the newest start-up businesses take ideas
and create viable business models, strategies, and profit plans for them. Incubators differ
from accelerators in that many people often seek incubators simply with little more than
just a powerful idea.
Innovation – Innovation means new, creative, unique ideas and a way to turn those ideas
into actionable solutions.

Intrapreneurship – Intrapreneurship is where someone displays the traits and characteristics

of entrepreneurship while within and being part of a larger company.

Related Read: Everything You Need to Know About Internships

Launch – Launch is the event where a product or service is released to the public market.

Merger – A merger is when two companies join to become one company. Usually, a merger
happens when both companies dissolve and form a brand-new entity, although they could
also just rename one company to include both.

Minimum Viable Product – A minimum viable product (MVP) is a version of a product or

service with just enough features and value to be released to the public.

Pivot – A pivot is a recalibration or shift in business focus or the business model based on
innovation, customer feedback, or to seek better return on investment.

Proof of Concept – A proof of concept (POC) is an understanding about whether or not an

idea, product, or service is feasible and has potential.

SaaS – SaaS is the abbreviation for “software as a service,” which is a business model where
software is provided on a subscription basis, rather than paying a one-time fee to own it.
Microsoft Office, for example, once charged hundreds of dollars for customers to purchase
the software, but now, with Office 365, customers pay a small fee monthly to continue using
it.

Scale – To scale means to grow a company while maintaining or improving upon its
performance, effectiveness, or efficiency as it grows.

Software as a Service – See “SaaS.”

Start up – According to Steve Blank, entrepreneur, and developer of the customer

development method, “a start-up is a temporary organization in search of a scalable,
repeatable, profitable business model.” According to Quantic, this means that “start-ups are
adaptable organizations whose primary goal is to find a business model, not execute one.

Technopreneur ship – Technopreneur ship is entrepreneurship with a massive focus or

reliance on technology.

Unicorn – A unicorn is a start-up company, usually privately-held, which reaches a valuation

of over $1 billion.

Unique Selling Point – A unique selling point, or USP, is a thing that stands out about your
product or service over that of another company.

USP – See “Unique Selling Point.

Value Proposition – A value proposition is a statement or promise of value of a given

product or service, including features and benefits.

Venture Capital – Venture capital, or VC, is a type of financing where the startup offers up a
partial ownership stake in the company for money. In some cases, the company may also
relinquish control to executives the VC chooses, though often only for a limited period of
time.

Video Pitch – See “Virtual Elevator Pitch.”

Virtual Elevator Pitch – A virtual elevator pitch is a 30- to 60-second video alternative to the
traditional elevator pitch, used to pitch ideas, whether to business investors or a community
like Goodwill to find climate change solutions. Read our guide on why to use one and how to
make your own virtual elevator pitch.

Wantrepreneur – A wantrepreneur is someone aspiring to become an entrepreneur,

perhaps with ideas or a general goal but without having started yet. A portmanteau of
“want” and “entrepreneur,” some might negatively use it to mean a “wannabe
entrepreneur.”

Workshop – A workshop is an event where multiple people gather to receive training and
education on a particular topic. A workshop can be anywhere from a few hours to weeks in
length. Often, one or more instructors lead a workshopping event to guide the participants.