You'll find that outside HN and the Bay area the definition of "startup" tends to be broader than simply "high growth, high risk". It actually feels like there

You'll find that outside HN and the Bay area the definition of "startup" tends to be broader than simply "high growth, high risk". It actually feels like there are two conflicting definitions. In tech you often hear people describe companies like AirBnB, Facebook and even Google described as "startups" although they're no longer "early stage" by any means and often have already peaked their growth and surpassed investment needs (though there may still be additional investments happening). Outside it often feels like the label applies to any small service or tech company that was recently founded, period. This is certainly what a lot of "startup" events cater to. And of course there are plenty of companies that would be "startups" in the Bay area sense but failed to find investors and instead ended up bootstrapping and becoming profitable.