Not peculiar to SV. I lived in London UK from 2008 through 2013, and worked at two self-described start-ups. One had been operating since 2006 (so ~5 years wh

Not peculiar to SV. I lived in London UK from 2008 through 2013, and worked at two self-described start-ups. One had been operating since 2006 (so ~5 years when I was with them), and the other had been a struggling (sans profit) business for just over 15 years. The MD of the latter would occasionally try to tidy up the truth by saying things like 'we're starting up a new exciting branch of the business', but mostly just used the s-word outright at recruitment fairs and in job ads. I'm not entirely sure the practice worked in anyone's favour.