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Do I want it?
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Is it by a startup?
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No.
(A ‘startup’ is not just any new small business. It’s a temporary venture capital funded company that must either fail fast or exit. An exit is where you’re either bought by Big Tech or become Big Tech through an IPO. To understand this better, if you have a sustainable small company, a startup is what will put you out of business.)
PS. They won’t necessarily put you out of business because they have a better product or anything like that. They will put you out of business because they have a minimum of $5 million to burn to undercut you and starve you out.
@aral Is this a generally accepted meaning of 'startup'? I always thought the term refers to any type of new company, but have no clue.
@t0k People do, wrongly, use it to refer to any type of new company. And that’s just great as far as Silicon Valley and venture capitalists are concerned. They know what a real startup is but if there sustainable, ethical companies that self-identify using the term, that’s great for the brand. They can turn to those and say ‘look, not all startups are toxic, extractive, exploitative ventures…’ So it helps them a lot in resisting regulation…
@t0k … But would they ever invest a single cent in such a company? No, never.
If you want to know what is and what isn’t a real startup, just look at what Silicon Valley and venture capitalists invest in and what they don’t.
)@christian @t0k If you don’t have VC and aren’t trying to grow as large as possible while screwing people over by mining them for their data and engaging in other extractive and exploitative practices, then, no, you’re not a startup. You’re way better than a startup. So, yes, you don’t need to legitimise their toxic funding and business model with your business. Hopefully, you’re a stayup :)
@christian @aral @t0k that’s often sneeringly called a “lifestyle” business, because for some reason these folks think you need a subcategory for “a business designed to serve a market and make a living wage for all involved without trying to balloon into something unsustainable by its founders.”
Personally I’m comfortable just referring to “unrestrained growth with no thoughts to sustainability or benefit” by its proper term of “cancer” and calling it a day.
as opposed to a "unicorn" (the former means something that actually exists and is based on working together instead of competing)
@aral I think you'll find people who disagree with this. What about bootstrappers?
@alee What about them? A real startup will happily put them out of business too.
@aral I've worked at 4 startup tech companies. They didn't do this.
In my experience, they usually get private investors.
Are you trying to reinvent "startup company" to mean something else?
@Sibshops Damn, you caught me. 
@aral that's not the definition of a startup. many startups are not VC funded.
A Startup is a new small business with the potential to grow big.
@antranigv Thank you for mainstreamplaining that to me. I very much appreciate your effort.
@aral absolutely!
@ellenor2000 The word has always been theirs.
@aral It has. They should be denied the use of the term.
मीपर meeper 
@aral 100% agree. If it's VC funded, it's better to assume it's going to be shit sooner rather than later.