AletheiaAI · Glossary
Markets Glossary
133+ terms every Indian investor should understand before trusting a market narrative. Plain English. India-specific context. No filler.
By Amit Tyagi, Fitoor Capital
A
Comparing two product versions to measure which performs better statistically.
India's 12-digit biometric identity number issued to residents for KYC and access.
India's national health data infrastructure enabling interoperable digital health records and patient identity.
Acquisition where buyer values the team over the product or revenue.
The moment a new user first experiences core product value and completes a key action.
Percentage of new users who experience the product's core value within a defined period.
Annual Contract Value — total annual revenue from a single enterprise customer contract.
SEBI-regulated investment fund structure for venture capital, private equity, and hedge funds in India.
Indian tax on startup investments above fair value under Section 56(2)(viib).
Average Revenue Per User—total revenue divided by active users in a period.
SEBI-and-exchange surveillance frameworks that place unusual or risky stocks under trading restrictions — higher margins, tighter bands, or trade-for-trade settlement.
Selling a company's assets directly instead of transferring ownership through share sale.
A formal reservation in the auditor's report — the auditor is telling you the accounts have an issue that management could not or would not fix.
B
Right to attend board meetings and access information without voting power or fiduciary duties.
Governing body that oversees company strategy, finances, and legal compliance.
Individual users drive adoption, creating enterprise demand from within organizations.
C
Months required to recover customer acquisition cost from gross profit.
Building an entirely new market category instead of competing in existing ones.
Indian investment fund registered with SEBI for VC, PE, and debt strategies with up to 1,000 investors.
The maximum percentage a stock or index is allowed to move in a session before trading is restricted — India's exchange-level price control mechanism.
Tracking how user groups acquired together behave over time.
Structural advantage that protects your startup from competition over years.
A possible future obligation — disputed taxes, guarantees, pending litigation — disclosed in the notes to accounts rather than recognised on the balance sheet.
Revenue per unit minus variable costs per unit. Shows profit before fixed expenses.
First major investor in a funding round who validates the startup and attracts follow-on capital.
Customer Satisfaction Score measures how satisfied customers are with a specific transaction or interaction.
Alignment between a candidate's values and the company's core beliefs and working style.
Structured interviews with potential customers to validate problem and solution before building.
The complete path a user takes from discovering your product to becoming a repeat customer.
Recruiting C-suite executives (CTO, CFO, CMO, COO) for early and growth-stage startups.
D
Daily active users divided by monthly active users; measures product stickiness and retention.
A startup's ability to reach profitability before cash runs out without external funding.
The portion of a stock's traded volume that actually results in shares changing demat accounts — a proxy for conviction versus intraday speculation.
Human-centred problem-solving method that prioritizes user needs and iterative testing.
India's government digital vault for storing and verifying identity and official documents.
Distributions to Paid-In Capital—actual cash returned to investors versus money invested.
Uninvested capital a VC fund holds to deploy in new or existing portfolio companies.
E
Additional payment to seller if acquired company hits agreed milestones post-deal.
Operating profit excluding interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation as a percentage of revenue — a measure of core operating profitability.
Reserved shares allocated for employee stock option grants over time.
The ratio of a company's exit value to its annual revenue or EBITDA at exit.
Revenue from existing customers through upsells, cross-sells, or increased usage.
F
Private investment entity managing wealth and assets for ultra-high-net-worth families.
Government rules governing foreign investment into Indian startups by sector and approval route.
A toggle that turns product features on or off without redeploying code.
Foreign Exchange Management Act governs cross-border money flows for Indian startups and founders.
Daily net buying or selling by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs/FPIs) and Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) — the two big institutional forces in Indian equities.
Contract between co-founders defining equity split, roles, vesting, and IP ownership.
Founder-led management prioritizing direct decision-making over delegated processes and hierarchy.
The fixed duration—typically 10 years—during which a VC fund must deploy and exit investments.
A fund that invests capital into other VC funds instead of directly into startups.
Measuring user conversion rates at each step of a defined journey to identify drop-off points.
G
Total transaction value on a marketplace platform, before deductions and refunds.
Plan defining how a startup reaches customers and generates revenue profitably.
Contractual clauses determining equity payout when founders or employees exit the company.
Low-cost, unconventional tactics to acquire users and drive rapid growth fast.
Phase after product-market fit where companies scale revenue with proven unit economics.
India's unified indirect tax on goods and services, replacing multiple state taxes.
H
I
Precise description of customer most likely to buy, retain, and expand with your product.
Board member with no financial ties to the company, required by Indian law.
Open API infrastructure layer built on Aadhaar, UPI, and DigiLocker enabling frictionless digital transactions.
Legal contract transferring intellectual property ownership from founders and employees to the company.
Annualised percentage return on a VC investment from entry to exit.
K
L
M
Annual percentage charged by VCs to cover fund operating costs, typically 1.5–2.5% of assets under management.
Professional management approach prioritizing systems, hierarchy, and established processes over rapid experimentation.
Entering a market when demand, regulation, and capital align for maximum growth.
Investment released in tranches when startup hits agreed targets.
Durable competitive advantage that protects a business from rivals.
Multiple of Invested Capital—total cash returned divided by total cash invested.
Smallest working version built to test your core assumption with real users.
N
Non-Banking Financial Company licensed to lend without a bank charter.
The National Company Law Tribunal — India's forum for corporate insolvency (under the IBC), mergers, and company-law disputes involving listed and unlisted companies.
Product value grows as more users join, creating exponential growth potential.
Contractual restriction preventing an employee from working for competitors after employment ends.
The single metric that best captures your product's core value delivery to users.
Metric measuring customer likelihood to recommend your product on 0–10 scale.
O
An exchange mechanism through which promoters or large shareholders sell existing shares to the public — no new shares are created and the company receives no money.
Setting up a foreign holding company to restructure ownership and comply with FDI regulations.
Objectives and Key Results—a framework for setting and tracking ambitious goals quarterly.
India's open protocol enabling any seller to reach any buyer without platform dependence.
Revenue and user expansion driven by unpaid channels: word-of-mouth, SEO, referrals, virality.
P
Price-to-earnings ratio — the share price divided by earnings per share, showing how many rupees the market pays for each rupee of annual profit.
Buying users through paid advertising channels like Google and Meta.
The systematic process of selecting and sizing investments to achieve fund-level returns.
A few investments return most or all of a VC fund's gains.
Right to purchase new shares before external investors in equity rounds.
A startup stage with zero customer revenue, funded by founders or early investors.
Unique features or value that make your product distinct from competitors in the market.
Using the product itself as the primary customer acquisition and expansion engine.
The percentage of a listed company owned by its promoters — the controlling founders or group — disclosed quarterly in the shareholding pattern.
Shares of a listed company that its promoters have pledged as collateral for loans — a key risk marker, since lenders can sell the shares if the loan sours.
Q
R
Reserve Bank of India rules governing fintech, lending, and payment operations in India.
Incentive system rewarding users for inviting new customers or users.
A deal between a listed company and its promoters, group entities, or key managers — legal and common, but the main channel through which value leaks to insiders.
Graph tracking the percentage of users active over time after signup.
Loans repaid as a percentage of monthly revenue, not equity dilution or fixed terms.
A fund that raises capital in tranches over time, not in one closed round.
Tactics to stretch cash reserves and delay the need for the next funding round.
S
India's capital markets regulator overseeing securities, fundraising, and investor protection rules.
SEBI's Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements regulations — the rulebook that dictates what listed Indian companies must disclose, and when.
Recording and playback of user interactions to observe actual product behavior and friction points.
A company repurchasing its own shares from shareholders — returning cash and reducing share count, governed in India by SEBI's buyback regulations.
Legal contract between company and investor for purchasing newly issued shares.
Master legal contract defining investor and founder rights, obligations, and exit terms.
A startup valued at $500M–$999M, approaching but not yet unicorn status.
A fixed time block (usually 2 weeks) for completing defined work and shipping increments.
Legal entity that pools multiple angel investors into one cap table entry.
Government initiative offering tax breaks and compliance relief to DPIIT-recognised startups.
Government scheme providing ₹20–50 lakh to early-stage startups through recognised incubators.
Buying a startup for business fit, tech, or market access—not just financial return.
A corporation investing in startups to gain competitive advantage, technology, or market access.
Economic and operational friction that makes customers reluctant to change products or services.
T
Percentage of gross merchandise value a marketplace keeps as revenue from each transaction.
Tax Deducted at Source — India's withholding tax system on payments to vendors, freelancers, and service providers.
Cost of taking engineering shortcuts that must be repaid later through refactoring.
Investment released in stages tied to predefined milestones, not all at once.
Total Value to Paid-In Capital: realized gains plus unrealized portfolio value divided by capital invested.
U
V
W
Z
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