I'm going to do something I dislike and play devil's advocate. You're not the only one here saying that Twitter is no startup, and while I agree with that asses

I'm going to do something I dislike and play devil's advocate. You're not the only one here saying that Twitter is no startup, and while I agree with that assessment to a certain extent, you've pretty much described a startup with your points. A startup is no longer considered being a startup if they become profitable (twitter isn't), is acquired or merges into another entity (twitter hasn't) or becomes public (which twitter hasn't either). Is twitter a startup? Yes. Would giving the prize to some other company be more interesting? Definitely. These competitions are often not fair, but honestly, who are we to judge?