I think it's quite interesting to see him here. He disagrees, in a polite way. That kind of thing is healthy. I don't really agree with dhh's definition of a startup, but there's probably not a sharp line between 'startup' and 'a new business' in some cases. In any case, I like the 37signals model, even though I have some nagging doubts about whether it's really quite so simple in an on line world where network effects and other economic factors are often very different from "the real world".
PG, who is always civil here, dragged into a stupid semantic fight?
I boggle.
"So 37signals would have been a startup if we sold to Google tomorrow, but not if we kept on as an independent company just making money?"
No, man. You're just playing semantic games, and you know it . The company would have been a startup if its founders had the intentions of being large or becoming part of something large.
Really, you have nothing better to do than to come to this nice place and crap all over it?