Before the multi-day radio silence I will leave you with a list of business jargon and acronyms (some southern slang) I've picked up through osmosis in the last twelve months, mostly from our Durham-native CFO Tim Oakley and the investors we have spoken to. Yes, the language can be a bit different here in the South. I truly hope you have the bandwidth to be able to leverage this color and create a positive ROI.

ARPU - average revenue per user

Bandwidth - The amount of things a person can get done during a period of time

Calibrate - to explain something to someone with the purpose of bringing them up to speed on a topic

Color - additional information on a topic

Comp Structure - Compensation Structure including salary and bonuses

Comps - Comparables revenue and EBITDA multiples

Flavor - (similar to color, but more specific), additional specific information on a topic

M&A Comps - Comparable revenue and EBITDA multiples of private companies in your industry

Ping - Check in or follow-up with someone

Public Comps - Comparable revenue and EBITDA multiples of public companies in your industry

Radio Silence - A period of time in which someone does not speak to you, either purposely or not.

Sales Coverage Plan - The plan you have for covering the sales you have in your financial projections. Ties in with your sales comp plan and your customer acquisition assumptions.

Sandbagging - submitting financial or sales projections that are lower than what you think is likely to occur

Valuation Distribution Quartile - The expected quartile (bottom 25%, lower middle 25%, top middle 25%, top 25%) you expect your valuation to be in as it relates to the M&A and public comps.

Zip Code - The general area you are looking for (as it relates to company valuation)

And here are some key terms that I did already know but tend to run into at least weekly these days:

Arbitrage - buying at a low cost in one location, selling for a higher cost in another location

CAC - Customer Acquisition Cost

Down-round: A round of funding which is raised at a lower price than a previous round. Generally triggers anti-dilution protection, which you want to be on a broad-based weighted average.

Due Diligence - The process of reviewing a company or investor prior to executing a transaction.

EBITDA - earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization

GAAP - Generally Acceptable Accounting Principles

Leverage - Utilize

LTV - Lifetime Value (of a customer)

Osmosis - The process of information seeping in through exposure to it

ROAS - Return on Ad Spend

ROI - Return on Investment

TLA - Three-letter acronym

VAR - Value-added reseller

Verticals - Different industry niches that can be targeted.

And this is without getting into names of term sheet provisions. Feel free to submit others strange/unique business terms or acronyms in the comments.