It looks like you are mismatching popular meaning of the word with it meaning in professional slang. Yes, for most people I know, a "startup" is just new word

It looks like you are mismatching popular meaning of the word with it meaning in professional slang. Yes, for most people I know, a "startup" is just new word for a new company, or even new pizzeria or barbershop. For entrepreneur I know, startup is "built from the start for hyper-growth", as he explained it for me.