PM Glossary
100+ terms every product manager should know — frameworks, metrics, acronyms, and interview language.
A
AARRR
— Pirate MetricsA growth funnel: Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral.
A/B Test
A controlled experiment where users see one of two versions; the winner is chosen by statistical significance on a metric.
APM
— Associate Product ManagerEntry-level PM role, typically 0-2 years experience, often part of a rotational program at FAANG.
ARR
— Annual Recurring RevenueThe subscription revenue a SaaS product would generate in a year at current run rate.
Activation
The point where a new user experiences core product value for the first time (the "aha" moment).
B
B2B
Business-to-Business — products sold to companies rather than end consumers.
B2C
Business-to-Consumer — products sold directly to individuals.
Bar Raiser
An Amazon interviewer, external to the hiring team, with veto power to maintain hiring quality.
Bottoms-Up
A sales/adoption motion where individual users adopt first and then influence org purchase.
C
CAC
— Customer Acquisition CostThe total sales & marketing spend divided by the number of new customers acquired.
Churn
The rate at which users stop using or paying for a product.
Cohort Analysis
Analyzing users grouped by a shared characteristic (e.g., signup week) over time to compare behavior.
CRO
— Conversion Rate OptimizationThe practice of increasing the % of users completing a target action.
D
DAU/MAU
Daily / Monthly Active Users — the standard engagement metric for consumer products.
Design Thinking
A user-centered problem-solving framework: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test.
Discovery
Research work done before committing to build a feature; validates the problem and solution direction.
E
Epic
A large body of work made up of multiple stories; usually spans multiple sprints.
Eval
A test set used to evaluate an ML/AI model or feature. The single most important artifact in AI PM.
Expansion Revenue
Additional revenue from existing customers via upsell, cross-sell, or usage growth.
F
FAANG
Facebook (Meta), Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google. Shorthand for top-tier US tech employers.
Feature Flag
A runtime toggle that turns a feature on/off, enabling gradual rollout and instant kill.
FTUE
— First-Time User ExperienceThe onboarding a new user sees on first login.
G
GTM
— Go-to-MarketThe plan to launch and grow a product — target segments, positioning, pricing, channels.
GMV
— Gross Merchandise ValueThe total value of goods sold through a marketplace, before fees or refunds.
J
JTBD
— Jobs To Be DoneA framework for identifying the underlying progress customers hire products to make.
K
KPI
— Key Performance IndicatorThe primary metric a team is graded on. Should be small in number and directly ownable.
L
LTV
— Lifetime ValueThe total revenue a customer generates before churning. Paired with CAC as the growth health check.
M
MoSCoW
Prioritization framework: Must have, Should have, Could have, Won't have.
MVP
— Minimum Viable ProductThe smallest version of a product that delivers real value and validates a hypothesis.
N
NPS
— Net Promoter ScoreA survey metric asking "would you recommend?" scored -100 to +100.
NRR
— Net Revenue RetentionThe revenue retained from an existing cohort of customers over a period, including expansion and churn.
O
OKR
— Objective + Key ResultsA goal-setting framework: qualitative Objective paired with measurable Key Results.
P
PLG
— Product-Led GrowthA go-to-market motion where the product itself is the primary driver of acquisition and expansion.
PMF
— Product-Market FitThe state where a product satisfies a market's need well enough to drive organic pull.
PRD
— Product Requirements DocumentThe primary spec document for a feature or product.
R
RICE
Prioritization framework: (Reach × Impact × Confidence) / Effort.
Retention
The percentage of users who return to a product over a defined period (D1, D7, D30 are common).
S
STAR
Interview answer format: Situation, Task, Action, Result — the default for behavioral questions.
SLA
— Service Level AgreementA committed uptime or performance guarantee to customers, often 99.9%+.
T
TAM/SAM/SOM
Total, Serviceable, and Obtainable Addressable Market — the standard market sizing triple.
TC
— Total CompensationBase salary + bonus + equity + benefits. The number to negotiate.
V
Vanity Metric
A metric that looks good on a slide but doesn't reflect real business health (raw pageviews, follower count).
Use These Terms Confidently in a PM Interview
Knowing the vocabulary is table stakes. Using it correctly under pressure is what wins offers. The cohort drills fluency in every term above.