2 ms·

|There's definitely a sense of "startups are the new banking." We need a new word. "Startup" has essentially become as meaningless as "agile". Semantically,

|There's definitely a sense of "startups are the new banking." We need a new word. "Startup" has essentially become as meaningless as "agile". Semantically, "startup" is now just an umbrella under which the same paper-pushers and conference-call-bros we were trying to escape from are convening.

gearoidoc 12y ago
I used to agree but I recently read this old quote from PG which nails it I think: "A startup is a company designed to grow fast. Being newly founded does not in itself make a company a startup." http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html
- frostmatthew 12y ago
  I have nothing but respect and admiration for PG, but I don't think he gets to unilaterally decide the meaning of words. Wikipedia says a startup is "a partnership or temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model"[1]. The relevant Wiktionary entry defines it as a "new organization or business venture"[2], fairly similar to the OED's "newly established business" definition[3]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_company [2] http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/startup http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/startup [3] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/start-up http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_eng...
  - kyleashipley 12y ago
    As a counterpoint, the Wikipedia definition of startup was coined by Steve Blank sometime in the past ~5 years, so it's not exactly ancient history. I think if we place emphasis on the word "scalable," PG + Blank's definitions are compatible. Both distinguish "startup" from "new company." I don't think most people would categorize building a tech company and starting a hair salon as the same activity because of the force multiplier of scale.

gearoidoc 12y ago

I used to agree but I recently read this old quote from PG which nails it I think: "A startup is a company designed to grow fast. Being newly founded does not in itself make a company a startup." http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html

frostmatthew 12y ago
I have nothing but respect and admiration for PG, but I don't think he gets to unilaterally decide the meaning of words. Wikipedia says a startup is "a partnership or temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model"[1]. The relevant Wiktionary entry defines it as a "new organization or business venture"[2], fairly similar to the OED's "newly established business" definition[3]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Startup_company [2] http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/startup http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/startup [3] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/start-up http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_eng...
- kyleashipley 12y ago
  As a counterpoint, the Wikipedia definition of startup was coined by Steve Blank sometime in the past ~5 years, so it's not exactly ancient history. I think if we place emphasis on the word "scalable," PG + Blank's definitions are compatible. Both distinguish "startup" from "new company." I don't think most people would categorize building a tech company and starting a hair salon as the same activity because of the force multiplier of scale.