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Nice simple, well implemented idea. I have a question which often comes up when I hear about "startups" on HN or in mainstream media. When is a company no long

Nice simple, well implemented idea. I have a question which often comes up when I hear about "startups" on HN or in mainstream media. When is a company no longer a "startup"? I know it's been addressed before, and there is no shortage of answers around [0]. But I can't help but think that, given my intuitive understanding, companies such as Atlassian are no longer startups. [0] - https://duckduckgo.com/?q=when+is+a+company+no+longer+a+startup%3F https://duckduckgo.com/?q=when+is+a+company+no+longer+a+star...

simonw 13y ago
There is no formal definition of a "startup". A local restaurant that just opened can be thought of as a startup, but it's not what this particular community would think of as one. Personally I like Steve Blank's definition: "a startup is an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model" - which would suggest that once you've found (and proven) your repeatable, scalable business model you stop being a startup. I wouldn't hold a company to that definition if they thought otherwise though.
pbiggar 13y ago
PG gave a definition [1] a while back, which was that startups were about growth. That seems the best definition I can think of: when you say you're doing a startup, I can implicitly understand that you're trying to build a scalable business that can grow very quickly. It also means that in addition to figuring out what your product should be, you are also in search of a sustainable growth strategy. Of course, lots of people outside this definition call their small businesses "startups",esp tech people, and it feels like this is because they want to be part of the startup community. This seems good to me, so I think we shouldn't be too tight with our definitions. [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html
Tossrock 13y ago
Well, there's two parts to this question really. What makes a newly founded company a startup in the first place, and when does such a company stop being a startup? The other comments addressed the first part (scalable business centered on growth), but the second part is a bit more nebulous. pg gave an off the cuff answer at YC's Work For a Startup day which was pretty insightful: "When politics starts working."
deleted 13y ago
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DavidAdams 13y ago
Steve Blank has a good and well-known definition for the term startup: "an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model." http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-principles/ http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-princ... In this sense, a typical new restaurant or dry cleaner isn't a startup, because they're following an established business model. A startup restaurant would be experimenting with innovative pricing, production, or other techniques, and would probably have to tweak its model on the road to success and would face an outsized risk of failure.

simonw 13y ago

There is no formal definition of a "startup". A local restaurant that just opened can be thought of as a startup, but it's not what this particular community would think of as one. Personally I like Steve Blank's definition: "a startup is an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model" - which would suggest that once you've found (and proven) your repeatable, scalable business model you stop being a startup. I wouldn't hold a company to that definition if they thought otherwise though.

pbiggar 13y ago

PG gave a definition [1] a while back, which was that startups were about growth. That seems the best definition I can think of: when you say you're doing a startup, I can implicitly understand that you're trying to build a scalable business that can grow very quickly. It also means that in addition to figuring out what your product should be, you are also in search of a sustainable growth strategy. Of course, lots of people outside this definition call their small businesses "startups",esp tech people, and it feels like this is because they want to be part of the startup community. This seems good to me, so I think we shouldn't be too tight with our definitions. [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html

Tossrock 13y ago

Well, there's two parts to this question really. What makes a newly founded company a startup in the first place, and when does such a company stop being a startup? The other comments addressed the first part (scalable business centered on growth), but the second part is a bit more nebulous. pg gave an off the cuff answer at YC's Work For a Startup day which was pretty insightful: "When politics starts working."

deleted 13y ago

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DavidAdams 13y ago

Steve Blank has a good and well-known definition for the term startup: "an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model." http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-principles/ http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-princ... In this sense, a typical new restaurant or dry cleaner isn't a startup, because they're following an established business model. A startup restaurant would be experimenting with innovative pricing, production, or other techniques, and would probably have to tweak its model on the road to success and would face an outsized risk of failure.