Business

A glossary of the key terms, acronyms, and ratios commonly considered business basics. Finance and Metrics Accrual Accounting: Records revenue when earned and expenses when incurred, regardless of cash movement. Gives a truer picture than cash accounting. (Basic accounting) EBITDA: Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization. A “cleaner” view of profitability before financial structuring. (Basic accounting) CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost): Total cost to acquire a new paying customer (ads + sales + marketing overhead ÷ new customers) [100M Leads p.208]. Industry CAC Benchmarks: Varies heavily. Rule of thumb: aim for CAC ≤ 1/3 of LTGP [100M Leads p.208]. LTV (Lifetime Value): The total revenue expected from a customer over their relationship with you [100M Money Models p.226]. LTGP (Lifetime Gross Profit): LTV × Gross Margin %. More accurate than LTV since it accounts for cost of goods sold [100M Money Models p.228]. LTGP:CAC Ratio: Healthy is ~3:1 (spend $1 to acquire, get $3+ in gross profit). If <1:1, you’re losing money; if 10:1, you’re under-investing [100M Leads p.208]. Free Cash Flow (FCF): Cash left after operating expenses + capital expenditures. Critical because cash pays bills, not “profits” [100M Money Models p.233]. Gross Margin: (Revenue – Cost of Goods Sold) ÷ Revenue. High gross margin = scalable business. Net Margin: Net profit ÷ Revenue. Bottom-line profitability after all costs. Gross vs Net: Gross = before costs (top-line). Net = after costs (bottom-line). Sales ARPU (Average Revenue Per User): Revenue ÷ total customers. Useful in SaaS. BAMFAM (Book A Meeting From A Meeting): Sales discipline: never leave a conversation without scheduling the next step [100M Closing Playbook §Closes]. Churn: % of customers who cancel in a given time period. Inverse of retention [100M Retention Playbook §Churn Math]. Business Models B2C: Business to Consumer: Selling directly to end users. Usually higher volume, lower ticket. B2B: Business to Business: Selling to other companies. Often longer sales cycles, higher ticket. B2B2C: Business sells to another business that serves end consumers (e.g., Shopify → merchants → buyers). Marketplace: Connects buyers and sellers, takes a cut (Airbnb, Uber). Recurring/Subscription: Predictable monthly revenue. Gold standard for valuations. Transactional/One-off: One-time purchases, low predictability. Value Equation Value Equation = (Dream Outcome × Perceived Likelihood of Achievement) ÷ (Time Delay × Effort & Sacrifice) [100M Offers p.47]. Grand Slam Offer: Offer so good people feel stupid saying no [100M Offers p.22]. Risk Reversal: Guarantees that shift risk from buyer to seller [Playbook – Guarantees §Hard Guarantees]. Scarcity/Urgency: Limiting supply or time to push action [100M Offers p.113]. Cost to Value: The perceived value must significantly exceed the price paid; customers buy when the benefit outweighs the cost. Healthy Business Ratios LTGP:CAC = 3:1: minimum healthy [100M Leads p.208]. Churn <5% monthly: strong retention [100M Retention Playbook §Churn Math]. Payback Period ≤ 12 months: CAC recovered within a year [100M Lifetime Value Playbook §Payback]. EBITDA Margin 15–30%: common range for service & SaaS businesses.

This reading list covers the fundamentals of wealth building, personal development, income generation, business scaling, and inspiration from successful entrepreneurs. Each book offers practical insights and strategies for building business acumen and financial success. 🧠 Personal Development How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie Essential communication skills and understanding people’s motivations for effective interaction. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey Seven habits for increased efficiency and effectiveness, including “begin with the end in mind.” ...

Zero to One is a book by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters about the value of true innovation made accessible to the masses through startups. It outlines several tenets that keen-minded business people should hold dear, including why technology trumps globalization, why we should be supporting monopolies instead of “healthy competition”, why successful innovators have the worldview of a “definite optimist” and why no one should be afraid of losing their job to a robot. Zero to One also delivers unique business insights, such as the four most important things to pay attention to about your product (they’re not quantitative) and the seven questions every business must answer for itself. ...

Building Strong Brands Marketing’s most basic premise: An exchange occurs between a buyer and a seller. 3 principles of marketing Customer value. What motivates the customer to want your product/service. Differentiation. What makes you stand out from the competition? Segmentation, targeting and positioning. Disecting your market horizon. 4 P’s of Marketing (Marketing Mix) The fundamental ingredients of the “exchange”. Each of the P’s can altered independently from each other in very interesting ways. ...