Too often, we communicate to impress rather than to be understood.

When I jump on a call these days, it feels like I'm listening to alphabet soup. TAM, TAL, ICP, ECP, GTM, PMF, ABM, ABX, MQL -- we're not having conversations anymore, we're just throwing acronyms at each other like some kind of twisted startup bingo.

I have to admit, as I work on my next venture 🔥, I've caught myself falling into the same trap. The other day, I heard myself say, "We need to nail our ICP before we can validate our GTM motions for proper PMF and scale" -- and I had to stop it. What happened to speaking like a normal human being? That's when it hit me: we need to cut through this noise and get back to practical, meaningful concepts that actually help us build better businesses.

Back in the day, when we built our first company in the early 2000s, we had about 10% of today's resources, and while I don't miss those bootstrapping days, at least we could understand each other without needing a startup dictionary on hand.

Fast forward, we're living in a golden age of startup [almost infinite] resources -- podcasts, newsletters, expert gurus, blog posts coming at us from every direction. But let me tell you what I'm seeing: Founders are frozen in their tracks, overwhelmed by an avalanche of overlapping concepts and contradicting advice. And thank you to those founders who have inspired me to write this post today.

Acronyms aren't inherently bad. They serve a purpose—especially among experts who understand their nuances. But they only work if you truly grasp their meaning. Otherwise, they're just fancy letters that confuse more than clarify.

Below, I've decoded some of the most overused terms in B2B company-building. No fluff. Just clarity 😉.

The Ultimate B2B Buzzword Translation Guide

GTM (Go-to-Market) Strategy ➡️ Your "Where the Heck Do I Start?" Plan

What people think it is: A magical roadmap that automatically generates millions in revenue.
What it actually is: Your basic game plan for selling your product and acquiring customers. That's it. No magic tricks, just good old-fashioned strategy for getting your product into your target customers' hands.

MVP (Minimum Viable Product) ➡️ "Does This Thing Even Work?" Prototype

What people think it is: A half-baked product you can rush to market.
What it actually is: The smallest version of your product that actually solves a real problem. The key here is defining minimum and viable. Think of it as your "good enough to add value" version. Back in my day, we didn't even have this fancy term -- we just called it V0. Learn from real feedback before going all-in. Build V1+, test, refine. Repeat.

PMF (Product Market Fit) ➡️ "Are People Actually Buying This?"

What people think it is: A magical moment when angels sing, and revenue starts pouring in.
What it actually is: A process of figuring out if people actually want what you're selling AND are willing to pay for it. It's not a finish line -- it's more like a continuous loop of testing, learning, and refining. Focus on closing your early adopters first, retaining them, and figuring out what's repeatable. Then operationalize what works.

ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) ➡️ "Who's Got the Money and Pain?"

What people think it is: A perfect, unchanging description of your dream customer.
What it actually is: Your target customer for the stage of the market you are in. It changes as your product evolves and matures. Who you sell to at the start may not be your best fit a year later. Understand your current best-fit customers—those who get the most value from your product—and refine your focus accordingly.

Founder Mode ➡️ "Jack of all trades"

What people think it is: A new, trendy concept.
What it actually is: The same thing founders have been doing since forever -- wearing multiple hats, getting your hands dirty, and figuring stuff out before you can hire someone else to do it. Even as you scale, you still keep a pulse on the business. Nothing new here, folks!

MOAT ➡️ "Why Can't Competitors Copy Us?"

What people think it is: A deep, wide ditch surrounding a castle.
What it actually is: Your secret sauce that makes it hard for competitors to solve a problem the way you do it. Think about what makes you 10x better than the alternative.

TAM (Total Addressable Market) ➡️ "How Big Is the Pie (That We'll Maybe Get a Slice Of)?"

What people think it is: The entire industry size in gazillions of dollars
What it actually is: The actual slice of the market you can capture with your specific product. Your TAM is the revenue opportunity realistically available to your business. Be precise. No, the entire US legal market isn't your TAM just because you're selling to lawyers!

The Sales Stack Decoded

Let's demystify some of the most popular sales-specific jargon (to get started):

• TAL (Target Account List): Fancy way of saying "list of people who might actually buy our stuff"

• ABM (Account-Based Marketing): It's not some radical new movement—it's just smart marketing. Prioritize high-value accounts, tailor your outreach, and don't waste time on people who will never buy. The concept is old; the acronym just made it trendy.

• ABX (Account-Based Experience): Do we really need a separate acronym to say "create a great buying experience"? Shouldn't we be doing this anyway?

• AE/GTM: Just a fancy way of saying "sales rep." Spoiler: Customers still know they're talking to sales. No acronym can hide that.

• SDR/BDR: The folks helping generate and qualify leads. But heads up—sales reps also generate leads. If they're not, they might be in the wrong role.

• Buyer's Journey: Stages a customer progresses through before buying a product. Sales process, but with empathy. Pretend you're the customer and describe the experience you wish to have when buying products.

• Expansion: Can you upsell to your customer base? New revenue is great, but you might be sitting on a gold mine already.

Case Study: Jargon vs. Human

To help illustrate, here is an example of what I frequently read from sales gurus. This excerpt is an actual sales job description post (~80% jargon).

Translation:
Hire someone who:

• Can run a sales process and understands who the target customer is

• Tests ideas instead of waiting for a "eureka" moment

• Uses other tools that don't crash Excel

• Is a team player and doesn't terrify his/her coworkers

• Makes decisions without a Magic 8-Ball

The Reality Check

Building a company is brutally hard. There's no magic formula, no one-size-fits-all strategy. No amount of fancy terminology will change that fundamental truth. Sometimes, going back to basics is where we find the real answers:

• Listen to your customers

• Obsess with product quality

• Validate your tactics

• Solve real problems

• Repeat what works

Use acronyms sparingly, define them on first use, and ensure they add clarity rather than complexity. Used excessively or without context, they can alienate your audience and create barriers to understanding

At the end of the day, if you're closing customers, keeping them happy, and they're sticking around, you're already winning. Keep learning, stay nimble, and focus on adding real value to your customers.

Do you have an idea, or are you working on something awesome and want to chat? 

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