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Uh, no. Legally, a startup is simply any new business, whatever goals the business is trying to accomplish. The startup period is the period during which the
by rprasad 14y ago
Uh, no. Legally, a startup is simply any new business, whatever goals the business is trying to accomplish. The startup period is the period during which the business is setting itself up prior to begin its normal intended business operations.
The term "startup" derives from the tendency of technology based companies to remain in this "starting up" period longer than companies in most other domains. It has somehow been romanticized as a term exclusively belonging to tech.
After all, if "startup" only meant a business trying to solve a unique problem, then Twitter, Facebook, and even Google never were startups, because communication, social networking, and search were not unique problems when those companies were formed. For that matter, AirBnb and Uber would not be startups, as FRBO's and charter car services are solved problems.
- rfrey 14y ago"Legally, a startup is simply..." I normally dislike "citation needed" responses, but what law are you referencing, exactly?
- rprasad 14y agoFor the tax code laws, see §195, 248, and 709. For the state and federal laws, I suggest using Lexis to look them up as i don't have the time to provide cites.
- DavidAdams 14y agoI agree that "unique problem" probably isn't a good enough descriptor, but there's no such thing as something that's "legally" a startup or not. Now, there are regulations that define a "small business" based on number of employees or revenue, so you can say that you can be "legally" a small business. But startup is another animal. I personally prefer Steve Blank's definition.