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That's your definition of a startup. Most people (myself included) think of a startup simply as a new, fledgling business. Every business starts with nothing. Y
by dkrich 13y ago
That's your definition of a startup. Most people (myself included) think of a startup simply as a new, fledgling business. Every business starts with nothing. Your aspirations, whether they are to become billion-dollar or just side income are irrelevant. They can lead to some bone-headed decisions along the way though.
- enraged_camel 13y agoA barber shop is a new, fledgling business, but it is not a startup. PG wrote an essay on this - you should read it.
- unimpressive 13y agoI'd like to second this, and provide a helpful link. http://paulgraham.com/growth.html http://paulgraham.com/growth.html
- ooutpa 13y agoOh come on. Just because Paul wrote something does not suddenly make it fact. The word 'startup' is at least a few hundreds years old, most likely from the word 'upstart' - the action of starting up. Startup as defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary: A fledgling business enterprise. Startup as defined in the Oxford dictionary: A newly established business.
- unimpressive 13y agoWe're talking about startups in the Silicon Valley Business vernacular, which has some strange definitions for common words. (See: Disrupt)
- ooutpa 13y agoYou see, I can get behind the usage of the word 'Disrupt' - to interrupt the normal course or unity of - Because that's often what happens when a startup enters a market to take market share from entrenched competitors who have been sailing along with a legacy for years. But I can't get behind changing the meaning of the word 'startup' based on geographic location. The meaning is literally in the word. To start up a new venture. Nothing about 5% weekly growth. Nothing about seeking a business model - because when the word was coined nobody had to 'seek' a business model, people just paid money for goods and services. There's your business model. Of course that part has become a little lost in Silicon Valley recently.
- mindcrime 13y agoWe're talking about startups in the Silicon Valley Business vernacular, Are we? I'm not in Silicon Valley, and what happens there is of little consequence to me. I, for one, only care what startup means in my vernacular. For what it's worth, I consider a "startup" any business that's intended to grow into a very large business, where the definition of "very large" is somewhat fuzzy. But I don't think you have to have intent to achieve that in any certain period of time, in order to qualify as a startup.
- vacri 13y agoI dare say that your vernacular is not locked to the definitions of words from several centuries ago.
- ihaveajob 13y ago(Not the OP) I've read PG's article, and it makes sense, but it narrowly fits YC's model and leaves out lean, bootstrapped companies. For that reason, I prefer Steve Blank's definition: "An organization in search of a repeatable, scalable business model". There's a good discussion here: http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-definition-of-a-startup http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-definition-of-a-startup
- greghinch 13y agoThat sounds more like the definition of a franchise business. Which may or may not be a startup as well, depending on how you go after growth
- benologist 13y agoYou're far too concerned with a (buzz)word that loosely fits many, many businesses and definitions and isn't as exclusive or elite or prestigious as you may feel.
- dkrich 13y agoAnd why isn't a barber shop a startup? Great Clips and Super Cuts were once new, fledgling businesses. Not charging money, taking VC investment, joining an incubator, and creating a stupid name that ends in "fy" or "ly" a startup does not make. BTW, I've read the essay. I like most of what he writes, but I have a fundamental disagreement on this one and just because it comes from the hands of PG does not make it gospel. What does this mean, "designed to grow fast?" Only technology businesses can achieve overnight billion dollar valuations, so are we saying that anything that is not in the field of tech is not a startup? If you are aiming to become the next Google, Facebook, or Twitter, good luck to you but you're going to fail. Most businesses that drive our economy were not overnight success stories. Starbucks, Wal-Mart, and Macy's were once single store fronts whose founders were not aiming for "hocky-stick" growth out of the gate. Ask John Paul DeJoria about what a startup is. The guy started by selling fucking shampoo to salons out of his car in Los Angeles when he was 36 and now owns Patron. Yes, the Tequila company. Watch this video for some perspective: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hndfUwPpzyQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hndfUwPpzyQ
- greghinch 13y agoThere's nothing to say a bootstrapped company can't become a a startup. When they start going for growth Edit: See below, I was referring to accelerated growth
- eclipxe 13y agoPlease, just re-read what you wrote and tell me you're saying this with a straight face.
- greghinch 13y agoI should have prefaced it as "accelerated" growth. But I stand by that.
- coolsunglasses 13y agoSelf-fulfilling stereotype. PG doesn't exclusively define the startup world. Is there really any point in Github's development that anyone would've doubted it was a startup?
- nhangen 13y agoPG isn't the only author on the topic, nor is he the most tenured. He presents one point of view from someone with interest in seeing his viewpoint prevail.
- fxthea 13y agoI don't think he's arguing about semantics of startup vs. small business. I believe he's trying to explain that new businesses fall into a path where they think they are a "startup" thus must take VC funding. He's trying to explain that there's also the "small business" route where you just bootstrap and fund your business from customer revenue.
- mindcrime 13y agoHe's trying to explain that there's also the "small business" route where you just bootstrap and fund your business from customer revenue. But funding from customer revenue does not automatically imply "small business". If you manage to generate a reasonable margin off that revenue, but you reinvest the profit back into the company, you can grow that way, as opposed to growing by taking outside money.
- fxthea 13y agoAgain, it's not about semantics. Replace small business with whatever term you want. The point is that the blog writer built a certain type of business then tried to take it onto a different track that put pressure on faster growth and got in over his/her head.