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As a non-SVer, this has always been something that confused me. What is the actual definition for "startup"? It doesn't seem to be tied to age, funding level, e

As a non-SVer, this has always been something that confused me. What is the actual definition for "startup"? It doesn't seem to be tied to age, funding level, employee counts, user counts, revenues, or really anything else at all. Honestly, it seems like a mostly self-selected tag used to indicate culture -- e.g., expectations of working conditions (hours, for instance) that in "normal" business we have long ago realized are actually counter-productive.

deleted 4y ago
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Apocryphon 4y ago
Open offices, beer kegs, and ping pong tables. Which, frankly, at this point might very well include every company founded since Facebook and including FB. Maybe every tech company post-dot com bubble is spiritually a startup.
michaelcampbell 4y ago
> mostly self-selected tag used to indicate culture This is _precisely_ how I've seen it (mis)used; a (IMO very creepy) need to hang on to those wonder-years that got you there. It's also when you typically see the "visionary" type leaders start heading out and doing it over again.
pram 4y ago
My favorite use of 'startup' has been at giant dysfunctional orgs (like Oracle) where they structure a new product team to have a 'startup' culture. AFAICT they think it means using kanban boards and having standup meetings.
pyb 4y ago
Startup = Growth : http://paulgraham.com/growth.html http://paulgraham.com/growth.html
pramodbiligiri 4y ago
Paul Graham has written that for him Startup = Growth (http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html). Another thought leader, Steve Blank, writes that "a startup is an organization formed 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...). A lot of the "startup type" characteristics of a company can possibly be correlated with one of the above categories. If you don't fall in either category, it would be weird to display those characteristics.

deleted 4y ago

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Apocryphon 4y ago

Open offices, beer kegs, and ping pong tables. Which, frankly, at this point might very well include every company founded since Facebook and including FB. Maybe every tech company post-dot com bubble is spiritually a startup.

michaelcampbell 4y ago

> mostly self-selected tag used to indicate culture This is _precisely_ how I've seen it (mis)used; a (IMO very creepy) need to hang on to those wonder-years that got you there. It's also when you typically see the "visionary" type leaders start heading out and doing it over again.

pram 4y ago

My favorite use of 'startup' has been at giant dysfunctional orgs (like Oracle) where they structure a new product team to have a 'startup' culture. AFAICT they think it means using kanban boards and having standup meetings.

pyb 4y ago

Startup = Growth : http://paulgraham.com/growth.html http://paulgraham.com/growth.html

pramodbiligiri 4y ago

Paul Graham has written that for him Startup = Growth (http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html). Another thought leader, Steve Blank, writes that "a startup is an organization formed 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...). A lot of the "startup type" characteristics of a company can possibly be correlated with one of the above categories. If you don't fall in either category, it would be weird to display those characteristics.