Speak the language

The PMM glossary

The words that make you make sense in an interview. Use these correctly and you already sound like you belong.

Positioning
the market context you deliberately choose to be judged in.
Messaging
the words that carry your positioning to a specific audience.
Go-to-market (GTM)
the plan for how a product reaches and wins its market.
Launch tiers
sizing a launch (tier 1, 2, 3) so effort matches impact.
Sales enablement
the assets and training that help reps sell (battlecards, decks, one-pagers).
Battlecard
a one-page cheat sheet for beating a specific competitor.
Win/loss analysis
interviews with won and lost deals to learn why you win or lose.
ICP (ideal customer profile)
the specific type of company you're built to serve.
Persona
the specific human you're selling to, with their goals and fears.
Value proposition
the one clear reason a buyer should choose you.
Competitive intelligence
tracking competitors' moves, claims, and pricing.
Category
the mental box buyers put you in before they start comparing you.
TAM / SAM / SOM
total, serviceable, and obtainable market size.
PLG (product-led growth)
the product itself drives acquisition and expansion.
ARR / MRR
annual and monthly recurring revenue.
Churn
the rate at which customers leave.
Activation
the moment a new user first gets real value.
Time to value (TTV)
how fast a customer reaches that first value.
One-pager
a single-page summary of a product's value for buyers or reps.
Objection map
a ranked list of the reasons buyers hesitate, with an answer to each.