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Company founded in 2009 with $8bn in funding is called a startup! So, is Google still a startup? When does a startup end being one? What should I call my actu

Company founded in 2009 with $8bn in funding is called a startup! So, is Google still a startup? When does a startup end being one? What should I call my actual startup these days? A nano-startup? ;)

newsclues 5y ago
Ship a product and let the market prove its successful or fail.
chii 5y ago
a startup is a company that is trying a business model that hasn't been tried before. The amount of money has nothing to do with being or not being a startup. This is why you don't call opening a new restaurant a startup.
- joelbluminator 5y ago
  I don't think thats true. Lots of companies aren't really innovating but just do small variations on existing solutions with nice marketing. Think about all the new companies we see now: ad tech, cyber security, employee collaberation etc etc. Are they all operating in unknown models? They may not have a product market fit but thats a different beast.
Hamuko 5y ago
I once got contacted by a major (at least by national scale) company with a history of 100+ years and revenue in the billions of euro, asking if I'd be interested in working in one of their departments, describing it as "a startup of some sorts".
BerislavLopac 5y ago
There are several definitions of the word. This company fits one, often used by VCs and the media, which is that a startup is a company still developing a product, either with no revenue of not enough to cover its expenses, and funded by external investments. My personal definition is a company which is still looking for a product-market fit.
- freediver 5y ago
  > often used by VCs and the media, which is that a startup is a company still developing a product, either with no revenue of not enough to cover its expenses, and funded by external investments. It would imply that a bootstrapped business can not be a startup. > My personal definition is a company which is still looking for a product-market fit. My first company became profitable on the night of the launch thanks to incredible product-market fit. Showing up to work the second day surely felt like still working in a startup, although product-market fit search was already behind us. Personally, I define startups to be business ventures where the rate of change and the freedom to take sudden turns is still high.
  - BerislavLopac 5y ago
    > It would imply that a bootstrapped business can not be a startup. And it isn't, at least by that definition. > Personally, I define startups to be business ventures where the rate of change and the freedom to take sudden turns is still high. This is also a good definition. My point is that we need to keep in mind that not everyone thinks of the same definition when using the same words.
maverick-iceman 5y ago
A startup is a company which faces significant risk of its equity going to zero, which has also never had a period in which the risk of its equity going to zero was negligible. Tesla is still a startup, so is Rivian Google is not a startup, Bank of America back in 2009 wasn't a startup although risk of equity going to zero was huge, but it had a darn long spell in which the risk was nonexistent.
- sandworm101 5y ago
  There are a few startups where that definition needs some flexibility, specifically startups that are based on large assets. A farm might be a startup, even though its key underlying asset (land rights) really will never approach zero. It could still fail without ever getting into net zero equity.
  - maverick-iceman 5y ago
    I mean equity market price, not equity book value. Equity market price embeds every information about the company.
malwarebytess 5y ago
Startup for me is a euphemism for a business that has yet to make a sustainable profit (and perhaps never will.)
that_guy_iain 5y ago
The company I work for that was founded 9 years and has been sold to a multi-million euro company calls itself a startup. It drives me nuts.
ignoramous 5y ago
I like pg's definition of the term: A startup is any (pre-IPO) company with potential for high growth. http://paulgraham.com/growth.html http://paulgraham.com/growth.html

Company founded in 2009 with $8bn in funding is called a startup! So, is Google still a startup? When does a startup end being one? What should I call my actual startup these days? A nano-startup? ;)

newsclues 5y ago

Ship a product and let the market prove its successful or fail.

chii 5y ago

a startup is a company that is trying a business model that hasn't been tried before. The amount of money has nothing to do with being or not being a startup. This is why you don't call opening a new restaurant a startup.

joelbluminator 5y ago
I don't think thats true. Lots of companies aren't really innovating but just do small variations on existing solutions with nice marketing. Think about all the new companies we see now: ad tech, cyber security, employee collaberation etc etc. Are they all operating in unknown models? They may not have a product market fit but thats a different beast.

Hamuko 5y ago

I once got contacted by a major (at least by national scale) company with a history of 100+ years and revenue in the billions of euro, asking if I'd be interested in working in one of their departments, describing it as "a startup of some sorts".

BerislavLopac 5y ago

There are several definitions of the word. This company fits one, often used by VCs and the media, which is that a startup is a company still developing a product, either with no revenue of not enough to cover its expenses, and funded by external investments. My personal definition is a company which is still looking for a product-market fit.

freediver 5y ago
> often used by VCs and the media, which is that a startup is a company still developing a product, either with no revenue of not enough to cover its expenses, and funded by external investments. It would imply that a bootstrapped business can not be a startup. > My personal definition is a company which is still looking for a product-market fit. My first company became profitable on the night of the launch thanks to incredible product-market fit. Showing up to work the second day surely felt like still working in a startup, although product-market fit search was already behind us. Personally, I define startups to be business ventures where the rate of change and the freedom to take sudden turns is still high.
- BerislavLopac 5y ago
  > It would imply that a bootstrapped business can not be a startup. And it isn't, at least by that definition. > Personally, I define startups to be business ventures where the rate of change and the freedom to take sudden turns is still high. This is also a good definition. My point is that we need to keep in mind that not everyone thinks of the same definition when using the same words.

maverick-iceman 5y ago

A startup is a company which faces significant risk of its equity going to zero, which has also never had a period in which the risk of its equity going to zero was negligible. Tesla is still a startup, so is Rivian Google is not a startup, Bank of America back in 2009 wasn't a startup although risk of equity going to zero was huge, but it had a darn long spell in which the risk was nonexistent.

sandworm101 5y ago
There are a few startups where that definition needs some flexibility, specifically startups that are based on large assets. A farm might be a startup, even though its key underlying asset (land rights) really will never approach zero. It could still fail without ever getting into net zero equity.
- maverick-iceman 5y ago
  I mean equity market price, not equity book value. Equity market price embeds every information about the company.

malwarebytess 5y ago

Startup for me is a euphemism for a business that has yet to make a sustainable profit (and perhaps never will.)

that_guy_iain 5y ago

The company I work for that was founded 9 years and has been sold to a multi-million euro company calls itself a startup. It drives me nuts.

ignoramous 5y ago

I like pg's definition of the term: A startup is any (pre-IPO) company with potential for high growth. http://paulgraham.com/growth.html http://paulgraham.com/growth.html