---
created: 2026-03-12
source: Rivet
tags: [agent-archive, rivet]
---

# Word of the Day - Business Leadership Vocabulary

*30 essential business terms Michael uses daily | Starting Feb 17, 2026*

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## Week 1 (Feb 17-21)

### Day 2 (Feb 17): **Leverage**
**Definition:** Using something you have to get maximum advantage or impact.

**RateRight example:** "We can leverage our platform's ratings system to build trust with new contractors."

**Natural conversation:** "How can we leverage this relationship?" or "That's good leverage for negotiations."

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### Day 3 (Feb 18): **Pivot** 
**Definition:** Changing strategy or direction while keeping your core purpose.

**RateRight example:** "We pivoted from percentage-based fees to flat fees when we saw contractor pain points."

**Natural conversation:** "We might need to pivot our approach" or "The market is telling us to pivot."

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### Day 4 (Feb 19): **Margin**
**Definition:** The difference between cost and selling price; your profit buffer.

**RateRight example:** "Agency margins of 30% are why contractors pay so much for workers."

**Natural conversation:** "What's your margin on that?" or "We need healthy margins to survive."

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### Day 5 (Feb 20): **Churn**
**Definition:** The rate at which customers stop using your service.

**RateRight example:** "High agency fees create worker churn - they constantly look for better deals."

**Natural conversation:** "Customer churn is killing us" or "How do we reduce churn?"

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### Day 6 (Feb 21): **Retention**
**Definition:** Keeping customers, workers, or clients using your service long-term.

**RateRight example:** "Worker retention improves when they keep 100% of their pay."

**Natural conversation:** "Our retention rate is solid" or "Focus on retention, not just acquisition."

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## Week 2 (Feb 24-28)

### Day 7 (Feb 24): **Scalable**
**Definition:** Something that can grow bigger without breaking or becoming inefficient.

**RateRight example:** "Our $50 flat fee model is scalable - more users don't increase our costs proportionally."

**Natural conversation:** "Is this process scalable?" or "We need scalable solutions."

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### Day 8 (Feb 25): **Acquisition** 
**Definition:** Getting new customers, users, or assets for your business.

**RateRight example:** "Customer acquisition costs are lower with word-of-mouth than paid ads."

**Natural conversation:** "What's our acquisition strategy?" or "Acquisition costs are climbing."

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### Day 9 (Feb 26): **Conversion**
**Definition:** Turning prospects into paying customers or users.

**RateRight example:** "SMS conversion rates are higher than email for tradie outreach."

**Natural conversation:** "How's the conversion rate?" or "We need better conversion tactics."

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### Day 10 (Feb 27): **Pipeline**
**Definition:** Your flow of potential deals, customers, or opportunities in progress.

**RateRight example:** "Susan's sales pipeline has 15 contractors at various stages."

**Natural conversation:** "What's in your pipeline?" or "Keep the pipeline full."

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### Day 11 (Feb 28): **Runway**
**Definition:** How long your money lasts at current spending rates.

**RateRight example:** "With $100/month costs, we have 3+ years runway to figure this out."

**Natural conversation:** "How much runway do we have?" or "Extend the runway by cutting costs."

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## Week 3 (Mar 3-7)

### Day 12 (Mar 3): **Bottleneck**
**Definition:** The slowest part of a process that limits everything else.

**RateRight example:** "Worker verification is our current bottleneck - it takes 24 hours."

**Natural conversation:** "Where's the bottleneck?" or "Remove bottlenecks to speed up flow."

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### Day 13 (Mar 4): **Metrics**
**Definition:** Numbers that measure how well your business is performing.

**RateRight example:** "Key metrics include contractor signups, worker applications, and completed hires."

**Natural conversation:** "What metrics are we tracking?" or "The metrics look good this month."

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### Day 14 (Mar 5): **Bandwidth**
**Definition:** Your capacity to handle work, projects, or responsibilities.

**RateRight example:** "Michael has limited bandwidth for sales calls while running construction projects."

**Natural conversation:** "Do you have bandwidth for this?" or "We're at full bandwidth."

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### Day 15 (Mar 6): **Touchpoint**
**Definition:** Every interaction a customer has with your business.

**RateRight example:** "Every touchpoint should reinforce that workers keep 100% of their pay."

**Natural conversation:** "Map all customer touchpoints" or "That's a critical touchpoint."

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### Day 16 (Mar 7): **Value Prop**
**Definition:** Short for value proposition - why customers should choose you.

**RateRight example:** "Our value prop is simple: $50 flat fee vs $2,000+ agency markup."

**Natural conversation:** "What's our value prop here?" or "Sharpen the value prop."

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## Week 4 (Mar 10-14)

### Day 17 (Mar 10): **Friction**
**Definition:** Anything that makes it harder for customers to use your service.

**RateRight example:** "Requiring phone numbers at signup creates friction for privacy-conscious workers."

**Natural conversation:** "Remove friction from the process" or "Where's the friction point?"

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### Day 18 (Mar 11): **Traction**
**Definition:** Evidence that your business is gaining momentum and working.

**RateRight example:** "Getting 5 contractor signups per week shows we're gaining traction."

**Natural conversation:** "We're getting good traction" or "Where's the traction coming from?"

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### Day 19 (Mar 12): **Optimize**
**Definition:** Making something work as well as possible.

**RateRight example:** "We optimized our SMS timing for when tradies check their phones."

**Natural conversation:** "Let's optimize this process" or "Always be optimizing."

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### Day 20 (Mar 13): **ROI**
**Definition:** Return on Investment - what you get back compared to what you put in.

**RateRight example:** "Contractors see 500%+ ROI switching from agencies to RateRight."

**Natural conversation:** "What's the ROI on that?" or "Good ROI drives decisions."

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### Day 21 (Mar 14): **Stakeholder**
**Definition:** Anyone who has an interest in or is affected by your business decisions.

**RateRight example:** "Workers, contractors, and the platform are all stakeholders in every hire."

**Natural conversation:** "Get all stakeholders on board" or "Who are the key stakeholders?"

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## Week 5 (Mar 17-21)

### Day 22 (Mar 17): **Moat**
**Definition:** Something that protects your business from competition.

**RateRight example:** "Network effects become our moat - more workers attract more contractors."

**Natural conversation:** "What's our competitive moat?" or "Build moats, not walls."

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### Day 23 (Mar 18): **Velocity**
**Definition:** How fast things move through your business processes.

**RateRight example:** "Sales velocity improves when we focus on qualified leads first."

**Natural conversation:** "Increase deal velocity" or "What's slowing our velocity?"

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### Day 24 (Mar 19): **Cohort**
**Definition:** A group of customers who started using your service around the same time.

**RateRight example:** "The February contractor cohort has 85% retention after one month."

**Natural conversation:** "Track cohort performance" or "The Q1 cohort is strong."

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### Day 25 (Mar 20): **Unit Economics**
**Definition:** The profit/loss on a single customer or transaction.

**RateRight example:** "Our unit economics are simple: $50 revenue minus ~$5 processing costs."

**Natural conversation:** "Do the unit economics work?" or "Fix unit economics first."

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### Day 26 (Mar 21): **Burn Rate**
**Definition:** How fast you're spending money each month.

**RateRight example:** "Our burn rate dropped from $6,461 to $100/month after cutting subscriptions."

**Natural conversation:** "What's our burn rate?" or "Control the burn rate."

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## Week 6 (Mar 24-28)

### Day 27 (Mar 24): **Pivot Point**
**Definition:** A critical moment when you need to make an important decision.

**RateRight example:** "The $50 flat fee was our pivot point - it changed everything."

**Natural conversation:** "We're at a pivot point" or "Recognize pivot points early."

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### Day 28 (Mar 25): **Alpha/Beta**
**Definition:** Alpha = early testing version, Beta = testing with real users.

**RateRight example:** "We're in beta with 10 contractors testing the platform daily."

**Natural conversation:** "Ready for beta testing?" or "Still in alpha stage."

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### Day 29 (Mar 26): **PMF**
**Definition:** Product-Market Fit - when your product solves a real market problem well.

**RateRight example:** "We'll know we have PMF when contractors can't imagine using agencies again."

**Natural conversation:** "Do we have PMF yet?" or "Focus on finding PMF first."

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### Day 30 (Mar 27): **GTM**
**Definition:** Go-To-Market - your strategy for launching and selling a product.

**RateRight example:** "Our GTM strategy focuses on organic growth through contractor word-of-mouth."

**Natural conversation:** "What's our GTM plan?" or "Execute the GTM strategy."

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### Day 31 (Mar 28): **CAC/LTV**
**Definition:** Customer Acquisition Cost vs Lifetime Value - what you spend vs what you earn.

**RateRight example:** "If CAC is $50 per contractor and LTV is $500, we're profitable."

**Natural conversation:** "Track CAC versus LTV" or "LTV needs to be 3x CAC minimum."

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## Usage Guidelines

### How Michael Uses These Words
- **In planning:** "What's our runway if we optimize burn rate?"
- **In problem-solving:** "Where's the bottleneck in our conversion funnel?"
- **In strategy:** "We need to pivot our GTM to leverage network effects."
- **In analysis:** "The unit economics work, but we need better retention."

### Context Clues
- **Financial:** Margin, burn rate, runway, ROI, unit economics
- **Growth:** Acquisition, conversion, churn, retention, scalable
- **Strategy:** Pivot, leverage, moat, GTM, PMF
- **Operations:** Bottleneck, friction, optimize, velocity, pipeline

### Natural Integration Tips
- Don't force them - use when genuinely appropriate
- Mix with plain English: "Our profit margin" not just "margin"
- Use in questions: "What's causing the bottleneck?" 
- Connect to specific examples: "Like Uber's network effects"

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## Daily Lesson Format (For Voice Notes)

**Structure:**
1. **Word + Definition** (15 seconds)
2. **RateRight Example** (30 seconds)
3. **How to use naturally** (15 seconds)
4. **Why it matters to business** (15 seconds)

**Total time:** ~75 seconds per lesson
**Delivery:** Morning voice note, 6:00 AM daily
**Follow-up:** Use word in context during day's conversations

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*This list gives Michael 30 business terms that successful entrepreneurs use daily. Each word comes with practical context and natural usage examples. Master these, and business conversations become more precise and professional.*