yeah, that's absolutely true. Some people prefer to get the title of business development so they feel like they are doing something higher level and justify their education/credentials.

I've noticed also some startups don't call people sales people because then at conferences people aren't turned off by meeting a sales person. I'm not opposed to these tactics but just wanted to point out the functional/true differences.

Most startups are actually selling a better/different version of what does exist. Very few startups are truly category defining so as a result they are mostly doing sales. Business development as a result for most startups is really for getting distribution versus getting customers.