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Ask HN: What constitutes a startup?

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Ask HN: What constitutes a startup?

#1
Over in the thread on the Ryan Carson "How to Build a Startup" series (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2642158), staunch offers that events, video series, and blogs aren't startups like Web apps. It got me to thinking: what actually constitutes a startup? Where do we draw the line? Where do we draw the line here on HN?

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Re: Ask HN: What constitutes a startup?

#6
post #5

A technology company that has a realistic possibility of scaling to something massive (e.g. hundreds of millions of users/revenue).

Why millions of users? Few B2B startup have millions of users.

Likewise it doesn't necessarily need millions in revenue to be successful. Many exits have come from zero revenue.

Re: Ask HN: What constitutes a startup?

#7
post #6
post #5

A technology company that has a realistic possibility of scaling to something massive (e.g. hundreds of millions of users/revenue).

Why millions of users? Few B2B startup have millions of users. Likewise it doesn't necessarily need millions in revenue to be successful. Many exits have come from zero revenue.

Revenue OR users.

The question is about what constitutes a startup, not what constitutes success.

Re: Ask HN: What constitutes a startup?

#9
post #4

How about: a small, tech-related business that aims to score big.

Why should tech have anything to do with it? A new coffee shop on the corner is a startup isn't? To me a startup is a new company, that's it, no more, no less.

It just so often seems to have techie connotations in everyday usage. Maybe "tech-savvy" would be better than "tech-related."
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