I’m not so sure. I sometimes meet startups, at meet-ups or conferences. Many that I have spoken to seem to just run their startup according to some kind of start-up template. There is an expected trajectory, just as you said. Maybe that doesn’t apply as much here at HN as many have read stories like this plenty before, like you said. But, I bet many don’t even consider that there are completely different goals one can pursue with a startup.