This is an article that was written in 2000 by Joel Spolsky (as another commenter also noted): http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000056.html http://

This is an article that was written in 2000 by Joel Spolsky (as another commenter also noted): http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000056.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000056.html It pretty much describes with different terms what pg here described as a "startup". I think startups have always had that definition (at least since the late 90s) but folks came along and started calling every little thing they own (i.e. their blog, non-profit, life-style business) a startup. Obviously, a lot of that had to do with how the tech media also entertained that liberal definition of a startup -- and everyone and their mom started jumping on that wagon because it was considered cool. I think articles like this should be a must-read for anyone wanting to get in the game, seriously.