Startup & Tech Glossary

Plain-English definitions of startup, funding, AI, and tech terms — with Philippine examples where possible.

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Cap Table

Funding Investment

A cap table is a spreadsheet showing exactly who owns what percentage of a startup, including founders, employees, and investors.

Churn

Startup Basics

Churn is the rate at which customers stop using or paying for a product over a given period, usually measured monthly.

Cloud Computing

Technology

Cloud computing means running software and storing data on someone else's remote servers over the internet, instead of your own computers.

Co-founder

Startup Basics

A co-founder is one of two or more people who start a company together from the very beginning, sharing ownership, risk, and major decisions.

Context Window

Ai Machine Learning

The context window is the maximum amount of text an AI model can read and remember at once when producing a response.

Convertible Note

Funding Investment

A convertible note is a short-term loan to a startup that converts into equity later, usually at the next priced funding round.

DAO

Crypto Web3

A DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) is a group whose members vote on decisions using blockchain-recorded tokens, instead of a traditional board.

DeFi

Crypto Web3

DeFi (decentralized finance) means financial services — lending, trading, earning interest — run automatically by blockchain code instead of a bank.

Dilution

Funding Investment

Dilution is the drop in a founder's or existing shareholder's ownership percentage that happens when a startup issues new shares.