

Startup vs. Company - zachwaugh
http://spencerfry.com/startup-vs-company

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webwright
I read a great definition the other day by Steve Blank:

"a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and
scalable business model."

source: [http://steveblank.com/2011/03/18/new-rules-for-the-new-
bubbl...](http://steveblank.com/2011/03/18/new-rules-for-the-new-bubble/)

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DrHankPym
That's interesting, so by that definition is Facebook still a startup?

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webwright
I don't know. Companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google are obviously
creating lots of new products/initiatives where revenue and scalability of the
business model are still a big question mark. Is Facebook's core business
scalable? Dunno.

Related question: Can you have a startup within a non-startup?

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JacobAldridge
One of the key frameworks I use as a business coach analyses the Stages of a
business' development. Startup is the first stage in that lifecycle.

It _is_ possible to "have been around for five years, generate millions in
revenue, and have fifty employees" and still be in the startup stage,
especially if your vision is to generate billions and have thousands of
employees; conversely, some businesses in an Advanced Growth stage would not
have those numbers (except, probably, the time in business).

To take those differences into account, our Stages framework relies on the
changing _feelings_ that occur within an organisation, rather than things like
turnover and profit (which are easily compared, but not necessarily
comparable). Loosely, I define a business as moving out of Startup when it
begins to 'invest with confidence' rather than 'investing with hope'.

That business you have in the garage making no money? You're probably
investing your time and some cash with the hope it will succeed. Google?
They're investing with confidence, because they've demonstrated their business
model. Twitter? Is a good question - are they feeling hopeful and frantic, or
confident?

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bdlocks
i agree with the semantics and that startups are taking on a broader
definition than they once use to, but i think it boils down to one thing:
startup vs. company = business plan vs. business model. steve blank provides a
lot more detail into this comparison - <http://t.co/ObGV2jf>

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salemh
Link: [http://steveblank.com/2010/01/14/a-startup-is-not-a-
smaller-...](http://steveblank.com/2010/01/14/a-startup-is-not-a-smaller-
version-of-a-large-company/)

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mmaunder
The source and type of funding you get often determines what kind of creature
your company is.

If you get valley funding from super angels who know the IPO market is dead
and their most likely exit is strategic acquisition, then creating product,
growth and becoming a credible threat or opportunity is key.

If you are self funded or raise money from your biz school professor or an
angel who built a profitable business, then your focus is going to be on
building what the author calls a "company".

The nature of funding in the NE vs the Valley has a huge impact on the kinds
of businesses that are built there.

Outside the States the difference in approach is startling - in most countries
funding is never an option. Most business is designed to provide a living wage
and "failing fast" is not a mantra because it means starving quickly.

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ekabanov
One way to define a startup is explosive growth -- more than 2x every year. If
you have such growth it's not an established business with well-defined
market, products and processes and you have to reinvent yourself every year.
Mind you they do differentiate between early stage startups and growth stage
startups.

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mrschwabe
Until and unless you have put your career on the line by dedicating every
waking moment of the work week on a single business idea: you haven't launched
a "startup".

This is my own definition. I've been following this scene for a number of
years. Seen a lot of half ass efforts calling themselves startups. Look, I've
had countless side projects, have started multiple companies, and have been
self employed for over 5 years - but never have I launched a "startup".
Because I don't take this concept lightly.

When I launch a startup - you'll know about it - and you can bet your ass it's
not some part time gig. A startup is a full time commitment, no exceptions.

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Apocryphon
There's also a distinction between a startup company and startup culture.
Google, Facebook(?), LinkedIn, Twitter, and so on have startup cultures
despite no longer being startup companies.

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mikekarnj
Starting a company is really easy. Building a company is really hard.

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bo_Olean
Project vs Startup

>>they were currently working on a half dozen startups (what I'd term
"projects"; a startup needs focused development)

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haploid
_We Internet geeks are being profiled as "cool" in the mainstream press, girls
are more interested in us than Wall St. people or lawyers ... What happened to
the days when I got made fun of for being on a computer all day?_

What? I have never seen this. This could just be a NYC/SF thing( as the author
points out )but outside those zones, I can't imagine this to be even remotely
true. Nerd groupies? Ha.

To quote Ballmer's character in Pirates of Silicon Valley, "..they were
moaning, 'oh, computer language, Oh Fortran! OH FORTRAN, OOOHHHHH!'"

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true_religion
It's actually a Virginia/UK thing too. If I tell anyone that I'm a software
engineer their first answer is "eh? money is good huh?" with a wink and a
nudge.

As far as social cred---we don't get as much as doctors since we don't save
lives, but we have at least as much as lawyers.

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sabat
_Maybe it's a New York vs. San Francisco thing, but in New York we're building
companies, not startups_

It's not a Bay Area thing -- unwarranted extrapolation. :-)

The problem seems industry-wide: I hear people (from all over the place) say
"hey, look at my startup!" and point to a small Django app with no business
plan or even a business concept, one "founder", and no indication whether that
founder intends to stick with it and develop into a company.

Projects are not startups. A startup is, as Steve Blank says, a (small)
organization that intends to develop itself into a company. A Rails app is not
automatically a "startup".

