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You quoted a pretty good definition of a startup. So why not do the obvious thing, and call something a startup iff it meets that definition? Why encourage usin
by jd 14y ago
You quoted a pretty good definition of a startup. So why not do the obvious thing, and call something a startup iff it meets that definition? Why encourage using a different and more generic word "business", if that doesn't clarify anything?
Next we're going to get a blogpost claiming that a startup with massive growth but no revenue model shouldn't get to call itself a business (because real businesses make profit!!). And so we go in circles again and again.
Yes, many people don't know the difference between a business, a business spin-off and a startup. The solution is to label things accurately, and to explain the difference when you notice people are confused. The solution is not to use a less accurate label in protest of people using labels inaccurately!
- bjansn 14y agoA business is pretty clear in what it is, right? You create value for other people and make money with it. In order to make a profit more money needs to come in than leaves again. Sure there are exceptions, but this should be the basic definition of a business. Not sure if that is less accurate.
- jd 14y agoIn your blogpost you said that you used to refer to what you were doing as a startup and don't anymore. So either your organization wasn't a startup in the first place (and now you started labeling it correctly) or your organization is a startup, in which case that's exactly what you should call it.
- bjansn 14y agoWe reviewed our products as seperate startups. And when we used to pitch them like that, it was fine. People heared us in saying, we're trying to set up multiple businesses. Now people don't know what we mean by startup. It's semantics, yeah, but in general it's far easier to explain what a business is than what a startup is.
- rprasad 14y agoLegally, a venture which is not intended to make money, or which has no plans for earning revenue, is not a business. If the venture is not a business, it is generally treated as a hobby, meaning, among other things, that expenses are not deductible except to the extent of revenues earned. A "business" without a revenue model could be, and in various courts has been, treated as a hobby. Thus, with startups, the lack of a plan for generating revenue could very well be the demarcating line between a business and a (very expensive) hobby.