Private company is objective but requiring no outside funding is a function of not only the current financial situation of the firm but also its intended growth

Private company is objective but requiring no outside funding is a function of not only the current financial situation of the firm but also its intended growth trajectory and associated costs. As long as companies like Uber and Airbnb believe that it makes more sense to use funding to capture opportunities not possible through organic self-funded growth, we have no choice but to use terms like unicorn and startup.