Webhook
An HTTP callback or HTTP POST that occurs when something happens; a simple event-notification via HTTP POST.
B2B SaaS Terms
Navigate the complex landscape of Software as a Service (SaaS) with our comprehensive Glossary of SaaS Terminology. Uncover precise definitions, real-world applications, and insightful explanations of key SaaS terms and acronyms. Whether you’re a SaaS veteran or a newcomer, our glossary is designed to enhance your understanding and provide a clear roadmap through the intricate world of SaaS vernacular. Stay informed and empower your decision-making with this invaluable SaaS terminology resource.
Whitelabel
A product or service produced by one company that other companies rebrand to make it appear as if they had made it.
Workflow Automation
The design, execution, and automation of workflows to streamline processes and enhance efficiency.
SLA (Service Level Agreement)
A contract between a service provider and a customer that specifies, usually in measurable terms, what services the provider will furnish.
Virtualization
The creation of a virtual version of something, such as a server, storage device, network or even an operating system.
SME (Small to Medium Enterprise)
A business with a small to medium number of employees, often categorized by various other factors including revenue and assets.
Software Development Kit (SDK)
A set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, hardware platform, computer system, or operating system.
Software License
A legal instrument governing the use or redistribution of software, specifying the rights of the users and the responsibilities of the licensors.
Stakeholder
An individual, group, or organization that has an interest or concern in an organization and can affect or be affected by the organization’s actions, objectives, and policies.
Subscription Model
A business model where a customer pays a recurring price at regular intervals to access a product or service.
Term Sheet
A non-binding agreement setting forth the basic terms and conditions under which an investment will be made.
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
The estimate of all direct and indirect costs associated with an asset or acquisition over its entire life cycle.
Traffic
The amount of data sent and received by visitors to a website, often used as a measure of website popularity or engagement.
Upselling
The practice of encouraging customers to purchase a comparable higher-end product than the one in question.
User Interface (UI) Design
The design of user interfaces for machines and software, such as computers, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, with the focus on maximizing usability and the user experience.
UX/UI (User Experience/User Interface)
The overall experience a user has with a product, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use, along with the design of interfaces to optimize user interaction.
Vendor Lock-in
A situation in which a customer using a product or service cannot easily transition to a competitor’s product or service.
Series A Financing
A significant round of business financing for startup companies that are generating revenue, but not yet profitable.
Venture Capital (VC)
A type of private equity, a form of financing that is provided by firms or funds to small, early-stage, emerging firms that are deemed to have high growth potential.
Series B Financing
A type of financing round for companies who have gone past the startup phase and are expanding market reach.
Vertical SaaS
Vertical SaaS offers tailored software solutions for specific industries, addressing unique market needs and promoting operational efficiency.
Serverless Computing
A cloud computing execution model where the cloud provider runs the server, and dynamically manages the allocation of machine resources.
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
A technology that creates a safe and encrypted connection over a less secure network, such as the internet.
Predictive Analytics
The use of data, statistical algorithms, and machine learning techniques to identify the likelihood of future outcomes based on historical data.
Private Equity
Capital that is not listed on a public exchange, composed of funds and investors that directly invest in private companies.
Product-Market Fit
The degree to which a product satisfies a strong market demand and meets the needs of a specific market segment.
Quality Assurance (QA)
The process of ensuring that products meet specified requirements and are free of bugs or defects.
Responsive Design
A design approach aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience—easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling—across a wide range of devices.
Retention
The act of keeping customers engaged and active with a product or service over time.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
A marketing metric that measures the gross revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.
ROI (Return on Investment)
A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment or compare the efficiency of different investments.
Round of Financing
A stage in the process of raising capital for a business where investors provide funding in exchange for equity in the company.
Multi-tenancy
An architecture in which a single instance of a software application serves multiple customers, known as tenants.
SaaS (Software as a Service)
A cloud computing model where software applications are provided over the internet on a subscription basis.
On-premise
Software that is installed and run on computers on the premises of the person or organization using the software, rather than at a remote facility such as a server farm or cloud.
Scalability
The ability of a system, network, or process to handle a growing amount of work or its potential to be enlarged to accommodate that growth.
Open Source Software
Software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The practice of optimizing a website to increase its visibility on search engines and attract organic traffic.
PaaS (Platform as a Service)
A cloud computing service that provides a platform allowing customers to develop, run, and manage applications without the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure.
Seed Capital
The initial capital used to start a business, often coming from the company founders’ personal assets, friends, or family.
Paywall
A feature used to restrict access to content via a paid subscription.
Pitch Deck
A brief presentation used to provide your audience with a quick overview of your business plan, typically used during meetings with potential investors, customers, or partners.
Pre-Money Valuation
The valuation of a company before outside financing and capital injections are added to its balance sheet.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives.
Lead Investor
An investor who arranges funding and leads a group of investors in a deal.
Lean Startup
A methodology for developing businesses and products that aim to shorten product development cycles and rapidly discover if a proposed business model is viable.
Liquidity Event
An event that allows founders and early investors to sell some or all of their shares to the public or another company.
Machine Learning
A type of artificial intelligence that allows systems to learn from data rather than through explicit programming.
Exit Strategy
A plan devised by a business owner to sell their stake in a company or dispose of it in order to achieve specific objectives.
Market Capitalization
The total value of a company’s outstanding shares of stock, calculated by multiplying the share price by the number of shares.
Freemium
A pricing strategy where a product or service is provided free of charge, but a premium is charged for additional features, services, or virtual goods.
Mezzanine Financing
A hybrid of debt and equity financing that gives the lender the rights to convert to an ownership or equity interest in the company in case of default, after venture capital companies and other senior lenders are paid.
Go-to-Market Strategy
The plan of an organization, utilizing their inside and outside resources, to deliver a unique value proposition to customers and achieve competitive advantage.
Microservices
An architectural style that structures an application as a collection of loosely coupled, independently deployable services.
Grant
A sum of money given by an organization, especially a government, for a particular purpose.
MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)
The amount of revenue a subscription-based business receives per month.
Growth Hacking
Techniques and strategies for generating significant growth with minimal expenditure.
Hybrid Cloud
A cloud computing environment that uses a mix of on-premises, private cloud, and third-party public cloud services with orchestration between the two platforms.
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)
A form of cloud computing that provides virtualized computing resources over the internet.
Incubator
An organization designed to help startup companies grow and succeed by providing services like management training or office space.
Infrastructure
The fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or area, including the services and facilities necessary for its economy to function.
Initial Public Offering (IPO)
The first time that the stock of a private company is offered to the public.
Integration
The process of combining different systems, applications, or data sets to work together as a coherent whole.
End User
The person who actually uses a product or service, in contrast to those who developed or sell it.
Conversion
The process of turning a website visitor into a customer or taking a desired action on a webpage.
Engagement
The level of interaction and involvement that a user has with a product or service.
Convertible Note
A type of short-term debt that converts into equity, usually in conjunction with a future financing round.
Engagement Rate
A metric that measures the level of engagement that a piece of created content is receiving from an audience.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
A technology for managing a company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers.
Equity Financing
The process of raising capital through the sale of shares in a company.
Crowdfunding
The practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the internet.
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
A type of software that organizations use to manage day-to-day activities such as accounting, procurement, project management, and manufacturing.
CSM (Customer Success Management)
The practice of ensuring customers achieve their desired outcomes while using your product or service.
Customer Journey
The process that a customer goes through when interacting with a company or brand, from the first point of contact to the final purchase or interaction.
Data Encryption
The process of converting data into a code to prevent unauthorized access.
Data Migration
The process of transferring data between storage types, formats, or computer systems.
Data Warehousing
A centralized repository for storing large volumes of data from multiple sources.
DevOps
A set of practices that combines software development and IT operations to shorten the system development lifecycle and provide continuous delivery.
Dilution
The reduction in ownership percentage and value per share when additional shares are issued.
Discount Rate
The interest rate used in discounted cash flow analysis to determine the present value of future cash flows.
DR (Disaster Recovery)
A set of policies and procedures to enable the recovery or continuation of vital technology infrastructure and systems following a natural or human-induced disaster.
Due Diligence
An investigation or audit of a potential investment or product to confirm all facts, such as reviewing all financial records, plus anything else deemed material.
Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT)
A measure of a company’s profitability that excludes interest and income tax expenses.
Agile Development
An iterative approach to software development which emphasizes flexibility and customer satisfaction.
CMS (Content Management System)
A software that enables the creation, management, and modification of digital content.
Angel Investor
An individual who provides capital to startups in exchange for ownership equity or convertible debt.
API (Application Programming Interface)
A set of protocols and tools for building software applications that allow different software systems to communicate with each other.
ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue)
The value of the contracted recurring revenue components of your term subscriptions normalized to a one-year period.
Asset Management
The practice of managing a company’s or individual’s assets, including tangible and intangible assets, to help achieve financial goals.
Benchmarking
The process of comparing a company’s performance metrics to industry standards or best practices to gauge its relative performance.
Big Data
The practice of analyzing large datasets to uncover insights, trends, and patterns which can help businesses make informed decisions.
Bootstrapping
The act of building a company from the ground up with personal savings and with little outside investment.
Bridge Loan
A short-term loan that provides immediate cash flow while waiting for longer-term financing.
Burn Rate
The rate at which a company consumes its capital or resources before generating positive cash flow.
Business Intelligence (BI)
The use of data analysis tools to make informed business decisions by converting data into actionable intelligence.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
The cost associated with acquiring a new customer, including all aspects of marketing and sales.
Cap Table (Capitalization Table)
A spreadsheet or table that shows the ownership stakes in a company, including equity shares, preferred shares, and options.
A/B Testing
A method used to compare two versions of a webpage or app against each other to determine which one performs better in terms of user engagement or other relevant metrics.
Churn Rate
The percentage of customers who stop using a company’s product or service during a certain timeframe.
Acquisition
The process of acquiring new customers or clients for the business, crucial for the growth and sustainability of a B2B SaaS company.
