Re:Startups Best Positioned To Weather A Downturn
by ericwaller on Tuesday September 30, 2008 @10:36PM
(#320306)
I think the term startup describes an unproven business.
You can have all the funding in the world, or have been operating for 10+ years, and it still may not be clear that you've got a viable business.
I do think it's important to distinguish between startups and growth companies. Facebook is no longer a startup, it clearly (to me at least -- though I'm sure this will be contentious) is a viable business, all that extra VC is about fueling mega-growth.
I was wondering about the definition of "startup" the other day. Would it be reasonable to define it in terms of profitability? Once you reach profitability you have a proper, self-sustaining business; before that you're in the much riskier position of being a start-up, burning through cash in the hopes of becoming profitable later on. This would mean that things like restaurants fall into the startup category only briefly, while (say) biotech companies can be startups for a decade or more.