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Cool. However, stop calling it startups. They're launching apps/products, not startups.
by shafyy 8y ago
Cool. However, stop calling it startups. They're launching apps/products, not startups.
- jonathankoren 8y agoStrong agree. It’s hard to understand how you would build a sustainable business around any of the products listed in this thread.
- codingdave 8y agoTo get even more pedantic, they are building apps, not launching them. Not that I want to dismiss the efforts - a group of people all challenging themselves to build out a side project in 24 hours is commendable. But building an idea into an MVP on a Saturday is not the same thing as launching a company.
- richrichardsson 8y agoWhat is a startup anyway? The term is stupid and overused imo.
- newman8r 8y agoA lot of people on HN would probably go with the Paul Graham definition: "A startup is a company designed to grow fast" http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html
- cityzen 8y agoI've always liked Steve Blanks definition: "a startup is a temporary organization used to search for a repeatable and scalable business model" https://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-principles/ https://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-prin...
- rorykoehler 8y agoThat's what PG wants a startup to be because it's self serving. He isn't going to get rich off of people bootstrapping lifestyle startups.
- bhengaij 8y agoSo true. I think a startup should be what it literally denotes. A new business.
- rorykoehler 8y agoA new business that isn't limited by local only distribution.
- bhengaij 8y agoI think that's a post appstore or post web definition. I'm all for unsexy startups if they can turn the entire city into a customer and yet not be relevant outside of the city
- michaelgrafl 8y agoThen we wouldn't need the word "startup" at all. But since people intuitively see a difference between opening up a deli and starting a social network, I think the word has a use. I think people associcate startups with technology, high risk (compared to a proven business model that has worked a thousand times for other people), and potential for fast growth (with regards to the investment). I don't think that excludes lifestyle-ventures.
- EpicEng 8y agoI think we can all agree it's not the process of building an app.
- rhizome 8y agoI have to think "has external funding" is a minimum.
- icebraining 8y agoWhy? GH already had 1M repositories when it raised its first round, were they not a startup before?
- rhizome 8y agoNo, they were a small company.
- walru 8y agoGive them a month, then maybe you could call it a 'start-up' or something substantial. It would also help build some level of anticipation.
- dmix 8y agoSure, in a month, if they are an actual startup I'll call them a startup.
- walru 8y agoHow do you propose anyone will have a MVP within a day? Which is the purpose of this event. I mentioned giving them a month to develop and build some level of product and anticipation for what it is they're proposing. Nothing about calling them a 'start-up' based on any level of randomness. Or perhaps you don't understand the word 'maybe'.
- TekMol 8y agoWe should take back the word 'startup' from people who want to make us think it is reserved for something that involves a business plan and raising money. If someone starts something, I call it startup.
- warent 8y agoExcept that words need to mean something, otherwise anyone can arbitrarily decide what they mean at their own convenience like what's happening now.
- adventured 8y agoThat's of course not just happening now, it has always been a problem with the term. There has never been wide industry agreement as to what it means, going back decades. That's how you end up with the media referring to 10 year old type companies that have thousands of employees as start-ups. I don't think a definition for it is going to get narrowed now, it will probably always be a broad/loose term.
- Fomite 8y agoHaving been interested in business since before the dot-com book, I've seen "Startup" transform from "New business, dealing with new business problems" to the very SV-driven notion that it's a new business expressly designed to scale quickly. Words might need to mean something, but there's already been a lot of drift here.
- grey-area 8y agoThe meaning of words has always been a negotiation.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- EpicEng 8y agoHey everyone, come invest in my new startup called "doing the dishes." Launching in about five minutes.
- wj 8y agoI agree with what you are saying but you saying it kind of feels like a wet blanket. Props to these people doing what they're doing publically.
- bluetwo 8y agoExperiments. Proof of concepts.
- scarejunba 8y agoQuite some irony in the fact that while some people are trying to build products quickly, Hacker News (run by startup incubator YCombinator) has a 20-comment thread debating what 'startup' means.
- shafyy 8y agoBy that logic, you can say people that build startups should never do something else in their 24h day.
- PakG1 8y agoDon't be silly. I've never seen anyone advocating for a 24 hour day. At the very most, I've seen 18 hour days. Let's be realistic. https://www.quora.com/How-did-CEO-Marissa-Mayer-pull-all-nighters-and-130-hour-work-weeks-while-at-Google https://www.quora.com/How-did-CEO-Marissa-Mayer-pull-all-nig... Want to be sarcastic here, but feel like people would look down on me.
- shafyy 8y agoThat's not what I'm advocating. Just arguing against the parent who said some equivalent of "while others are building products, you wannabe entrepreneurs are all talks here on HN".
- scarejunba 8y agoOh no, you can spend it on whatever you want. Arguing about the definition of ‘startup’, though?
- austenallred 8y agoBeing pedantic around this is silly