I'm always happy to give out advice. However, anyone who knows me personally can tell you that I talk fast and usually don't slow down enough to ensure that the beginner understands some of the key terms I'm using before moving forward. SO, I wanted to put together some key vocabulary words on the that I get asked about while talking to people. That way, if they get confused I can tell them "its on my blog" and move on if there are other things to discuss in a little space of time.

A big one I run into a lot is a "cap table."

Generally speaking a cap table is simply an overview of who owns what in a company. If a piece of paper says John owns 50% and Mike owns 50% that is, in essence, a cap table. It also shows shares, but most shares don't really mean anything until later. Two people could have two shares at one share a piece or a billion shares at 500m shares a piece. The number is entirely arbitrary.

Early stage cap table is usually a division of the founders, maybe a board member or two, the employees, and also potentially angel investors.

Later stage adds an option pool of maybe 10% (most VC's won't invest without one ... you need top talent and thats how you get it), additional board members, and VCs. If you're super lucky, later an IPO stage.

Cap tables go in your business plan, investor presentation and will generally show a before and after investment scenario. (This is called pre-money and post-money).  They are an integral part of discussing and negotiating with investors when it comes time to make a deal.

I would strongly advise anyone who wants to learn more about cap tables to go to this link and just play around with this free super handy tool: http://www.startupnetwork.com/captableEntry