Entrepreneurship Vocabulary Quiz
12 multiple-choice questions on startups, venture capital, business models, pitching and key entrepreneurship concepts. B2 level. Great for business English learners and IELTS/TOEIC preparation.
Keep building your entrepreneurship vocabulary.
Entrepreneurship Vocabulary — FAQ
A startup is a newly established business, typically one that aims to scale rapidly using an innovative product or service. Unlike traditional small businesses, startups usually seek external investment and aim for fast growth. The term is especially common in the technology sector but applies to any early-stage company with high growth potential.
Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by investors (venture capitalists) to early-stage, high-potential startups in exchange for equity — an ownership stake in the company. Venture capitalists take on higher risk than traditional lenders because startups may fail, but they expect very high returns if the company succeeds.
A business model is the plan a company uses to generate revenue and make a profit. It describes how the business creates, delivers and captures value — essentially answering: what does the company offer, who are its customers, and how does it make money? Examples include subscription models (Netflix), freemium models (Spotify), and marketplace models (Airbnb).
A founder is a person who starts and establishes a business. A co-founder is one of two or more people who start a business together. The prefix 'co-' means 'together', so co-founders are joint founders who share the responsibility of building the company from its inception.
Bootstrapping refers to starting and growing a business using only personal savings and revenue generated by the business itself, without seeking external investment or loans. A bootstrapped company grows organically and remains self-funded. While it means slower growth, it allows founders to retain full ownership and control.
MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product. It is the simplest, most basic version of a product that can be released to early customers to test a business idea, gather feedback and validate assumptions — with the least amount of time and money invested. The MVP approach is central to the Lean Startup methodology, popularised by Eric Ries.
In entrepreneurship, to 'pivot' means to make a fundamental change to the business strategy — such as changing the target market, the product, the revenue model or the technology — while keeping what has been learned. Famous pivots include Instagram (originally a location check-in app) and YouTube (originally a video dating site). A pivot is different from simply improving an existing approach.
Equity refers to ownership in a company, usually expressed as a percentage of shares. Founders hold equity in their own company. When they take on investors, they give away a portion of that equity in exchange for funding. Employees may also receive equity through stock options. Equity is important because it determines who owns what share of the company's value.
A sole trader (or sole proprietor) is a self-employed individual who runs their own business and is personally responsible for all debts and liabilities. A limited company is a separate legal entity from its owners. Shareholders' personal liability is limited to the amount they invested, meaning personal assets are protected if the business fails.
Common entrepreneurship collocations: 'launch a startup', 'raise capital', 'pitch an idea', 'scale a business', 'generate revenue', 'secure funding', 'disrupt an industry', 'validate a concept', 'build a prototype', 'gain market share', 'exit a business' (sell it), and 'burn through cash' (spend money quickly). Learning these will help you read business news and join professional conversations in English.