Startup Glossary: Letter "L"

Lead Generation is the process of identifying, attracting, and capturing interest from potential buyers to build a sales pipeline.

A Lead Investor is the venture capital firm or individual investor who orchestrates and writes the largest check for a startup's funding round.

A Lifestyle Business is a company built to generate sustainable profits and support the founders' lifestyle, without the goal of raising venture capital or pursuing a massive exit.

A Limited Partner (LP) is an investor who commits capital to a venture capital fund but does not participate in active management or day-to-day operations.

A Limited Partnership Agreement (LPA) is the core contract governing a venture capital fund's operations, defining the relationship between the GPs and LPs.

Liquidation Preference is a protective legal clause in a term sheet that determines the order and amount of payout to preferred shareholders relative to common shareholders in an exit.

A Liquidation Waterfall Model is a financial spreadsheet mapping how exit proceeds are distributed to shareholders in accordance with liquidation preferences, stock classes, and caps.

A Lock-Up Period is a contract window (typically 180 days) after an IPO during which company insiders, founders, and early investors are prohibited from selling their shares.

Logo Churn is the percentage of customer accounts (logos) that cancel their subscriptions over a specific period, regardless of their revenue contribution.

LTV (Lifetime Value) is the total net revenue a startup expects to earn from a single customer over the entire duration of their relationship.

The LTV to CAC Ratio compares the lifetime value of a customer to the cost of acquiring them, measuring marketing and sales funnel efficiency.