I don't think this is an unpopular opinion really, but that you are getting a bit hung up on the semantics. Most businesses that you start, are not "startups".

I don't think this is an unpopular opinion really, but that you are getting a bit hung up on the semantics. Most businesses that you start, are not "startups". And that's good, for all the reasons you outline. It's ok to look at companies that are trying to find exponential short term growth as a different thing, and talk about when to pull the plug if you aren't going to achieve that. The more interesting question I think is when you should try to initiate that sort of company, vs "a viable, sustainable business the founder wants to do", as you put it.