4 ms·

Hmm... How long does a company have to be around until it's no longer considered a start-up?

oblio 10y ago
Plus Fog Creek is more on an anti-start-up since it explicitly did not want to grow fast at all costs. That's why Trello was spun off.
- dx034 10y ago
  Do all start ups have to grow at all costs? I know it's standard for most start-ups to accept as much VC money as possible and find ways to spend it, but there are also young companies that don't need VC money and are successful. Don't know why those shouldn't be start-ups.
  - bobwaycott 10y ago
    Perhaps startups just have to look or be sexy to be startups. Successful and boring don't seem to get all the gushing press.
  - closeparen 10y ago
    Because we already have the terms "small business" and "ISV" to refer to small companies which are happily making small profits and not trying to take over the world.
    - taneq 10y ago
      Like Trello was?
  - mojowo11 10y ago
    I work at a company that considers itself a startup -- we're seven years old and completely bootstrapped. I've had many people tell me that we're not a "startup," we're just a "normal company." Usually this comes down to people saying that unless our priority is maximizing growth in the short term, we're not a startup. (We are obviously still focused on growth, just not at the expense of our stability, our product, or our company culture.) "Startup" is a nebulous term with no firm definition, so these kinds of arguments are bound to happen. Some people still say Facebook is a "startup" because it has the fast-paced environment with the normal superficial cultural trappings of a tech startup (food perks, no dress code, casual interpersonal culture, etc. etc.). Ultimately it's probably just a dumb semantic argument that's best avoided.
zeroer 10y ago
I think a good definition of what a startup is would consider rate of growth (now and projections into the near future) rather than length of time since inception.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
Lordarminius 10y ago
> How long does a company have to be around until it's no longer considered a start-up? My simple personal guide is: when it has been around for more than 2 years, has found a viable business strategy or is certain to be around for 4 more years. There is a discussion on this question here: https://www.quora.com/When-does-a-startup-stop-being-a-startup-and-become-a-normal-company?share=1 https://www.quora.com/When-does-a-startup-stop-being-a-start...

oblio 10y ago

Plus Fog Creek is more on an anti-start-up since it explicitly did not want to grow fast at all costs. That's why Trello was spun off.

dx034 10y ago
Do all start ups have to grow at all costs? I know it's standard for most start-ups to accept as much VC money as possible and find ways to spend it, but there are also young companies that don't need VC money and are successful. Don't know why those shouldn't be start-ups.
- bobwaycott 10y ago
  Perhaps startups just have to look or be sexy to be startups. Successful and boring don't seem to get all the gushing press.
- closeparen 10y ago
  Because we already have the terms "small business" and "ISV" to refer to small companies which are happily making small profits and not trying to take over the world.
  - taneq 10y ago
    Like Trello was?
- mojowo11 10y ago
  I work at a company that considers itself a startup -- we're seven years old and completely bootstrapped. I've had many people tell me that we're not a "startup," we're just a "normal company." Usually this comes down to people saying that unless our priority is maximizing growth in the short term, we're not a startup. (We are obviously still focused on growth, just not at the expense of our stability, our product, or our company culture.) "Startup" is a nebulous term with no firm definition, so these kinds of arguments are bound to happen. Some people still say Facebook is a "startup" because it has the fast-paced environment with the normal superficial cultural trappings of a tech startup (food perks, no dress code, casual interpersonal culture, etc. etc.). Ultimately it's probably just a dumb semantic argument that's best avoided.

zeroer 10y ago

I think a good definition of what a startup is would consider rate of growth (now and projections into the near future) rather than length of time since inception.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

Lordarminius 10y ago

> How long does a company have to be around until it's no longer considered a start-up? My simple personal guide is: when it has been around for more than 2 years, has found a viable business strategy or is certain to be around for 4 more years. There is a discussion on this question here: https://www.quora.com/When-does-a-startup-stop-being-a-startup-and-become-a-normal-company?share=1 https://www.quora.com/When-does-a-startup-stop-being-a-start...