An accredited investor is an individual or entity meeting SEC thresholds for income, net worth, or professional knowledge to participate in unregistered private securities offerings. For individuals: $200,000+ in annual income (or $300,000 with spouse) for the past 2 years with reasonable expectation of continuing, OR net worth exceeding $1 million excluding primary residence, OR specific professional certifications like Series 7, 65, or 82 added under the 2020 SEC rule expansion. The qualification covers most startup financings under Regulation D Rule 506(b) and 506(c). It is the SEC's regulatory gate that determines who can legally participate in [Startup Investment] through private securities, and one of the most-impo...
A revenue forecast is the projection of future revenue over a defined period, typically monthly for 12-24 months and annually for 3-5 years. Ideally built bottoms-up from specific drivers (new customer counts by month, ARPC by segment, retention/churn rates, expansion rates) rather than tops-down from market-share assumptions, the forecast feeds the broader financial model. It is one of the most-scrutinized elements during investor diligence because revenue assumptions drive everything else (hiring plan, burn, runway, valuation). It's the most-important number to get right and the one founders most often build with insufficient rigor.
The components of a defensible revenue forecast:
New customer acquisition (drives new ARR)...
Dilution is the decrease in an existing shareholder's ownership percentage when a company issues new shares. It happens during funding rounds, option pool expansions, SAFE or note conversions, and warrant issuances. Your share count does not change; the total shares outstanding grows, so your slice of the pie gets smaller. The math is mechanical; the emotional impact is not.
The per-round math (2025 benchmarks, Carta and PitchBook data):
| Round | Typical dilution | Typical new shares | What's diluting you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed (SAFE) | 10-15% on conversion | $250K-$1M at $5M-$10M cap | SAFE conversion at priced round |
| Priced seed | 18-25% | $2M-$5M at $8M-$20M pre | New shares + option pool refresh |
| Series A | 17-22% | $8M-$15M at $30M-$80M pre | New shares + ... |
The Jobs Framework (Jobs-to-be-Done or JTBD) is the strategic approach that focuses on the "jobs" customers hire products to do rather than demographics or features. Popularized by Clayton Christensen and Tony Ulwick, the central question is "what job is this customer trying to get done when they hire this product?" The framework provides a customer-outcome lens distinct from feature-focused approaches (what does the product do?) and segment-focused approaches (who is the customer?), arguing that jobs are more stable predictors of demand than demographics or features. It is one of the more-useful strategic frameworks for product and business strategy.
The core concept:
Customers don't buy products; they hire products for jobs...
CPM (cost per mille) is the advertising pricing model in which the advertiser pays per 1,000 impressions, regardless of clicks or conversions. It is most common in display, video, programmatic, connected TV, podcast, and brand-awareness campaigns where the goal is reach rather than direct response. It is the third leg of the major paid-media pricing trio alongside CPC (cost per click) and CPA (cost per acquisition).
CPM rates vary widely by surface, audience, and ad format. Display / programmatic web typically runs $1 to $5 CPM for broad audiences and $10 to $30+ CPM for tightly-targeted B2B audiences (LinkedIn Display, niche publishers). Connected TV (Hulu, Roku, Netflix Ads) typically runs $20 to $50 CPM. Podcast advertising typically...
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is the 9-digit federal tax ID assigned by the IRS to a business entity. Also called a Federal Tax Identification Number (FEIN), it is required for opening business bank accounts, hiring employees, filing federal tax returns, applying for business credit and loans, obtaining business licenses, and most other institutional business operations. It is the business equivalent of a Social Security Number and one of the first administrative steps after incorporation.
How to obtain an EIN: file IRS Form SS-4, either online (the fastest method; available at IRS.gov, takes about 15 minutes if all info is ready, EIN issued immediately for US-based responsible parties), by fax (1 to 2 business days), by mail ...
Market validation is the process of gathering evidence that a product or business model fits a real market need. It's conducted through customer interviews (validating the problem and customer), MVPs and early product tests (validating the solution), pilots with paying customers (validating willingness to pay), and pre-orders or crowdfunding campaigns (validating commercial demand at scale). The discipline is one of the most-important pre-PMF activities and the bridge between problem discovery (does this matter?) and product-market fit (are customers actively pulling the product?). It is the evidence-gathering that separates validated business hypotheses from unvalidated assumptions.
The validation hierarchy:
Level 1: prob...
A liquidation waterfall is the calculation that determines how exit proceeds are distributed across preference stack, share classes, and option pools at exit. Exit proceeds include acquisition cash, public offering proceeds, and dissolution distributions. The waterfall is modeled as a series of "buckets" that fill in priority order until the proceeds are exhausted. It is the math that determines what each shareholder actually receives, and the analysis founders most consistently postpone until it's too late to change.
The waterfall fills in roughly this order: secured debt first (rare for venture-backed startups, but present if there's outstanding venture debt with collateral), then unsecured debt and trade obligations...
A compensation philosophy is the explicit framework a company uses to make pay decisions across hiring, performance, promotions, and ongoing compensation adjustments. It defines how the company positions itself in the market (top of market vs median vs below market), how cash and equity balance in total compensation, how geography is treated (single global pay scale vs location-adjusted), and how performance vs tenure influences pay over time. The philosophy is one of the most-impactful documents a company creates because it shapes who gets attracted, who stays, and how employees experience the company over time. It is a discipline that most early-stage startups skip and most growth-stage companies eventually have to...
A startup accelerator is a fixed-term, cohort-based program that provides funding, mentorship, and a structured curriculum in exchange for equity, ending in a demo day. It is designed to compress a startup's first 6 to 12 months of development into a focused 3-month sprint, providing access to a network of investors and a culminating demo day where the cohort pitches.
The model was created by Y Combinator (founded by Paul Graham in 2005), which set the template most other accelerators have copied. The standard structure is a 3-month program, a small investment (Y Combinator currently invests $500,000 on standard SAFE terms in exchange for 7 percent of the company), weekly office hours with partners, group dinners, and a ...