60 cooking answers · 9 categories
what is…
baking
- What is autolyse in bread baking?
Autolyse is a 20-60 minute rest of flour + water (only) before adding salt or yeast. The flour fully hydrates and enzymes break down starches. Results: better g…
- What is gluten development?
Gluten development is the formation of an elastic protein network from wheat flour proteins (gliadin + glutenin) when mixed with water. The two proteins bond in…
business
- What is customer acquisition cost (CAC)?
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is total sales + marketing spend divided by new customers acquired in that period. Healthy SaaS CAC payback: 12 months (best-in-…
- What is product-market fit?
Product-Market Fit (PMF): you have it when ≥40% of users say they would be "very disappointed" if your product disappeared (Sean Ellis test, 2009). Andy Rachlef…
- What is monthly recurring revenue (MRR)?
MRR is the predictable monthly revenue from active subscriptions, normalized to a monthly basis. For SaaS, MRR is THE growth metric — it isolates subscription h…
- What is annual recurring revenue (ARR)?
ARR is the annualized value of all active subscription contracts at a point in time. Simply: MRR × 12. ARR is the standard SaaS valuation metric at scale ($1M+…
- What is customer lifetime value (LTV)?
LTV (Lifetime Value, sometimes CLV) is the total profit one customer generates over their entire relationship with you. Formula: ARPU × Average Customer Lifetim…
- What is churn rate?
Churn rate is the % of customers (or revenue) you LOSE in a given period. Customer churn = customers lost / customers at period start. Revenue churn = MRR lost…
- What is Net Promoter Score (NPS)?
NPS is a single-question survey measuring customer loyalty: "On a 0-10 scale, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend?" Promoters (9-10) minus Detractors…
- What is gross margin?
Gross margin is revenue minus cost of goods sold (COGS), expressed as a percentage of revenue. It measures how much of each sales dollar survives the direct cos…
- What is burn rate?
Burn rate is how fast a company spends cash, usually measured per month. Gross burn is total monthly cash out; net burn is cash out minus cash in. Net burn is t…
- What is runway?
Runway is how many months a company can keep operating before it runs out of cash: current cash ÷ net monthly burn. The common post-raise target is 18–24 months…
- What is net margin?
Net margin (net profit margin) is net profit divided by revenue, as a percentage — what remains after ALL costs: COGS, operating expenses, interest, and tax. It…
- What is contribution margin?
Contribution margin is revenue minus all VARIABLE costs — the amount each sale "contributes" toward covering fixed costs and then profit. Formula: (revenue − va…
- What is conversion rate?
Conversion rate is the percentage of people who take a desired action out of those who had the chance to. Formula: (conversions ÷ total visitors) × 100. A landi…
- What is ARPU?
ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) is total revenue divided by number of users over a period. Formula: revenue ÷ active users. A SaaS earning $50,000/month from 1,…
- What is burn multiple?
Burn multiple is net cash burned divided by net new ARR added in a period — how much you spend to add one dollar of recurring revenue. Formula: net burn ÷ net n…
- What is value-based pricing?
Value-based pricing sets the price according to the value a product creates for the customer — what they are willing to pay — rather than its cost (cost-plus) o…
- What is price anchoring?
Price anchoring is a cognitive bias where the first price you see (the anchor) shapes how you judge every later price. A high "list" price beside a sale price,…
- What is the decoy effect?
The decoy effect (asymmetric dominance) is when adding a third, deliberately inferior option makes one of the original two look more attractive — shifting choic…
- What is the Eisenhower Matrix?
The Eisenhower Matrix is a 2×2 grid that sorts tasks by urgency and importance into four quadrants — Do (urgent + important), Schedule (important, not urgent),…
- What is time blocking?
Time blocking is scheduling your day into dedicated blocks, each assigned to a specific task or type of work, instead of working from an open to-do list. You de…
- What is the Pareto principle (80/20 rule)?
The Pareto principle — the 80/20 rule — observes that roughly 80% of results come from about 20% of causes. Named after economist Vilfredo Pareto, it's a heuris…
- What is a sales-qualified lead (SQL)?
A sales-qualified lead (SQL) is a prospect that marketing has vetted and sales has accepted as worth pursuing — one who has shown enough fit and intent (budget,…
- What is a sales pipeline?
A sales pipeline is the stage-by-stage view of every open deal — from first contact through to close. It shows where each opportunity sits, how much is likely t…
- What is sales velocity?
Sales velocity measures how fast revenue moves through your pipeline. The formula: (number of opportunities × win rate × average deal value) ÷ sales-cycle lengt…
cooking
- What is umami?
Umami is the fifth basic taste — the savory, meaty, deeply satisfying flavor from glutamate amino acid. Detected by tongue receptors (along with sweet, sour, sa…
- What is the Maillard reaction?
The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids + reducing sugars in food, accelerated by heat (250-350°F+). It produces hundreds of flavor com…
- What is pasteurization?
Pasteurization is a heat treatment that kills pathogenic bacteria, yeasts, and molds in food + beverages while preserving flavor + texture. Standard methods: HT…
fermentation
- What is cloudy brine in a fermentation jar?
Cloudy brine is normally a sign the ferment is working — it is suspended lactic-acid bacteria plus starch and cellular material released by the vegetables. Clou…
finance-light
- What is compound interest?
Compound interest is interest earned on both the principal AND previously-earned interest. Formula: A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt). At 7% annual return (S&P 500 long-term…
- What is inflation?
Inflation is the rate at which prices rise over time, reducing purchasing power. Measured via CPI (Consumer Price Index) in the US. Long-term US average: 3-3.5%…
- What is an ETF (exchange-traded fund)?
An ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) is a basket of securities — stocks, bonds, commodities, or a mix — that trades on a stock exchange like a single stock. ETFs offer…
- What is an index fund?
An index fund is a mutual fund or ETF that passively tracks a market index (S&P 500, total stock market, etc.) instead of trying to beat it. Index funds charge…
- What is dividend yield?
Dividend yield is annual dividend per share divided by stock price, expressed as a percentage. A $100 stock paying $3 in annual dividends has a 3% dividend yiel…
- What is APR?
APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is the yearly cost of borrowing as a percentage — it bundles the interest rate PLUS required fees, but does NOT account for compoun…
- What is APY?
APY (Annual Percentage Yield) is the yearly return on savings INCLUDING the effect of compounding — the true rate you actually earn. Formula: APY = (1 + r/n)^n…
- What is amortization?
Amortization is paying off a loan through fixed regular payments split between interest and principal. Early payments are mostly interest; later ones mostly pri…
- What are mortgage points?
Mortgage (discount) points are an upfront fee you pay the lender to lower your loan's interest rate. One point costs 1% of the loan amount and typically cuts th…
- What is a mortgage escrow account?
A mortgage escrow account is where your lender's servicer holds money for property taxes and homeowners insurance. You pay about one-twelfth of the annual total…
- What is a zero-based budget?
A zero-based budget gives every dollar of take-home income a specific job — spending, saving, or debt — until income minus all assignments equals zero. "Zero" m…
- What is a sinking fund?
A sinking fund is money set aside a little at a time toward a specific, known, future expense — so the cost is pre-funded instead of arriving as a shock. Total…
- What is a savings rate?
Your savings rate is the share of take-home income you save: savings divided by take-home pay. It is the single biggest lever on how fast net worth grows, becau…
- What is a debt-to-income ratio?
Your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio is your total monthly debt payments divided by your gross monthly income, as a percentage. Lenders use it to gauge how much of y…
- What is net worth?
Net worth is everything you own (assets) minus everything you owe (liabilities) at a single point in time. It is a balance-sheet snapshot — income is not in the…
- What is the debt snowball method?
The debt snowball pays minimums on every debt and puts all extra money toward the smallest balance first; each payoff rolls its payment into the next debt. Its…
- What is dollar-cost averaging?
Dollar-cost averaging invests a fixed amount at regular intervals rather than all at once, buying more shares when prices are low and fewer when high. It lowers…
general
- What is the best telescope for a beginner?
The consensus pick among astronomy educators is a 6–8 inch Dobsonian reflector: the most aperture per dollar on the simplest possible mount. Aperture (the light…
health
- What is REM sleep?
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is the sleep stage where most vivid dreaming occurs, the brain is highly active, and the body is temporarily paralyzed (atonia).…
- What is the circadian rhythm?
The circadian rhythm is the body’s internal ~24-hour clock that regulates sleep, alertness, hormone release, body temperature, and metabolism. It is set by a ma…
- What is VO2 max?
VO2 max is the maximum rate at which your body can take in and use oxygen during intense exercise, measured in millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight…
- What is progressive overload?
Progressive overload is the training principle of gradually increasing the demand placed on the body so it keeps adapting. As muscles, bones, and the nervous sy…
pets
- What is a cat-safe houseplant?
Per the ASPCA's toxic-plant database: spider plants, Boston ferns, areca and parlor palms, calathea, peperomia, African violets, and cat grass are all non-toxic…
self-help
- What is deep work?
Deep Work (Cal Newport, 2016): "Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capabilities to their li…
- What is flow state?
Flow is a mental state of complete absorption in an activity, identified by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1975 — time distorts, self-consciousness dis…
- What is procrastination?
Procrastination is voluntarily delaying an intended task despite expecting to be worse off for the delay. Research (Pychyl, Steel) shows it is primarily an emot…
- What is a growth mindset?
A growth mindset is the belief that abilities can be developed through effort, strategy, and feedback — coined by psychologist Carol Dweck. Its opposite, a fixe…
- What are atomic habits?
Atomic habits are small, foundational routines — the basic units of a larger system of behaviour — that compound over time. The term comes from James Clear's 20…
- What is habit stacking?
Habit stacking is a behavior-change technique that anchors a new habit to an existing one using the formula "After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT]." The est…
- What are keystone habits?
Keystone habits are routines that trigger a cascade of other positive changes. Charles Duhigg coined the term in The Power of Habit (2012): unlike an ordinary h…