Hmm, at least around here, the word "startup" does imply vying for explosive growth. But not necessarily aiming for a quick sell--often, the ultimate goal is to

Hmm, at least around here, the word "startup" does imply vying for explosive growth. But not necessarily aiming for a quick sell--often, the ultimate goal is to create a large company like Facebook or Google. Some people go as far as considering most acquisitions failures! But certainly explosive growth. What you described (long-term sustainable growth) is the hallmark of a good small business. And there is nothing wrong with that! But it is a very different model from what we know as a "startup". After all, if "startup" could mean any small company, there would not be any reason to have the word at all! We could just say "small business" instead. The two models are very different in every way apart from the size of the company. Having different words for them just makes sense. It's important not to see this as some judgement on either concept; rather, it's just using language to differentiate between two fundamentally different things.