NAICS – (North American Industry Classification System), a set of industry categories standardized between the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S., it is taking over from the SIC code system.
Needle & Rosenberg Intellectual Property Practice of Ballard Sphar – focuses on intellectual property and includes a well-established and highly regarded national patent prosecution and patent litigation practice
Nelson Chu – managing partner of Kinetic Ventures, a leading venture capital investor in communications, information and power/clean technology driven businesses
Net Present Value (NPV) – the difference between the present value of cash inflows and the present value of cash outflows. NPV is used in capital budgeting to analyze the profitability of an investment or project. NPV analysis is sensitive to the reliability of future cash inflows that an investment or project will yield.
Networking – the strong association between the entrepreneur as a person and his or
her business demands that entrepreneurs get out into the world and
create and maintain business relationships. This is a key to success in finding people and resources for your company.
New Growth Theory – emphasizes that economic growth results from the increasing returns associated with new knowledge. The theory supports the importance of investing in new knowledge creation to sustain growth. Ample attention and incentive is needed to encourage knowledge creation (research and development, the education system, entrepreneurship and the tolerance for diversity, macroeconomic expectations, openness to trade).
New Media – a generic term for the many different forms of electronic communication that are made possible through the use of computer technology. The term is in relation to "old" media forms, such as print newspapers and magazines, that are static representations of text and graphics. New media includes:
- web sites and web advertising
- streaming audio and video
- chat rooms and online communities
- DVD and CD-ROM media
- virtual reality environments
- integration of digital data with the telephone, such as internet telephony
- digital cameras
- mobile computing
"No Shop" Provision – a binding provision, usually in a Letter of Intent, contract, or term sheet, that promises exclusive rights to negotiate
Non-Compete Clause – a term used in contract law under which one party (usually an employee) agrees to not pursue a similar profession in competition with another party (usually the employer). The use of such clauses shows a concern that, upon their termination or resignation, an employee might begin working for a competitor or start a business and gain competitive advantage by abusing confidential information about their former employer.
Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) – a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential materials or knowedge the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict access to. An NDA creates a confidential relationship between the parties to protect any type of confidential and proprietary information or a trade secret. NDAs are commonly signed when 2 companies are considering doing business together and need to understand the processes used in each other’s business for the purpose of evaluating the potential business relationship.