"Is the word “Startup” meaningless? If so, why and does its loss of meaning really matter? If not, what does it mean now?" I don’t think its meaningless, but I

"Is the word “Startup” meaningless? If so, why and does its loss of meaning really matter? If not, what does it mean now?" I don’t think its meaningless, but I do think its meaning has somewhat been cheapened. The issue is that people are quick to lump early stage companies all into the same boat. There are many different segments within it. We just don’t have words that properly describe those segments. For example, a startup that is ramen profitable is not on the same level as 3 guys setting out to build an minimum viable product. That sounds pretty obvious, but I would bet that a lot of people would say they are both startups. IMHO, it’s not a startup until you have product/market fit. Until then, it’s an interesting project you’re working on with the intention of turning it into something real. That’s the approach we’ve taken. In the past month or so, we’ve achieved product/market fit and have officially upgraded ourselves from an interesting project we’re all passionate about to a startup we’re all passionate about. Admittedly, this was more of an internal perspective, but perhaps this is the type of approach that should be taken.