Webster says "a fledgling business enterprise," and sites as its first use 1845. [1] Unless there's another dot-com bubble that happened 150 years earlier than

Webster says "a fledgling business enterprise," and sites as its first use 1845. [1] Unless there's another dot-com bubble that happened 150 years earlier than the one I know about, I think you're pretty well wrong about the etymology. Within the HN-bubble, people may define "startup" to be "VC-backed-startup, but the term does have a meaning outside of that bubble. I call my own company a "startup", and I have no plans to seek out a slot in an incubator or investment from VC. [1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/start-up http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/start-up