It would be better to demolish the hip/sexy part of the 'startup' phrase in mainstream media. Recently I've started to put more emphasis on the definition that Dave McClure gave on quora about a year ago:

    A 'startup' is a company that is confused about:
    - What its product is.
    - Who its customers are.
    - How to make money.
    As soon as it figures out all 3 things, it ceases being a startup and becomes a real business.

http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-proper-definition-of-a-star...

I think this is really a clever way to define a startup, it is true to the experience, and takes away the hype.