> It's an early traditional company that's in the black but is not poised to go through the roof or become bloated with employees or ask a ton of its employees

> It's an early traditional company that's in the black but is not poised to go through the roof or become bloated with employees or ask a ton of its employees Why not just call these small businesses? If they're in the black, then they can just operate using a traditional business model. The startup is about _not_ operating traditionally, but, taking a massive risk to do something different, that can _eventually_ get to that traditional model. Usually by way of turning into a publicly traded company. Which many small businesses never will achieve, by the way. Entrepreneurship doesn't mean you have to go that "insane growth" trajectory. It _can_ just mean "launch a small business". And that small business can just be private for a very long time; there's nothing wrong with it. Some idiots may have you believe that the "best entrepreneur" creates startups, but that's stupidity at it's finest. IMO the best entrepreneur can create the _right kind_ of operation. There are plenty of examples of private companies that can grow but don't require operating non-traditionally.