Also, I wasn’t calling you out via my WordPress example. Just referring to many “start-up” web applications that are just re-works of WordPress with a few plug-ins or a more customized out-of-the-box Pligg site.

Re: Facebook…yeah I think it is still a startup as it really hasn’t defined a sustainable model yet. Facebook Ads is a failure so far and that valuation/investment is questionable.

Re: being an entrepreneur – it’s as simple as it’s dictionary definition “A person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture.” Kids who shovel snow instead of playing video games are definitely entrepreneurs. Anyone who is putting themselves on line to do something outside of established corporate structures are entrepreneurs.

Actually, even those who have the mind set to do so are…and are just working on their idea, growing their connections and waiting for the right market opportunity are as well.

I am seeing an influx in people over-using the term “entrepreneur” though. I agree with you with respect to how you perceive an entrepreneur, “they are willing to assume great risk for great reward”. But much like the over-abundance of “start-ups” coming about with nothing more than a WordPress install and a name better suited for a vanity plate than a domain name — everyone seems to being finding an easy, low-risk, no-barrier to entry mechanism to label themselves “entrepreneur”. Again, to my earlier example … the kid deciding to shovel snow this winter is technically an “entrepreneur” — but it is definitely the cool term; perhaps because it is so closely synonymous with start-up.

1) I’d say Google stopped being a startup when they went public. That’s clearly a driver of ‘company sustainability’. For highly visible ’startups’ the going going public moment is probably the final stop on their ’startup’ journey. If facebook does so, i think they should stop being called a startup, and start being called a public media company. So for me, that road ends with either a) going public b) getting acquired or c) going bust.

2) I’d say iStrategyLabs is also a small business, rather than a startup. Our models are much different than the ‘build it > iterate > release it > cash out’ model. I’ve never really been interested in that kind of business…as alluring as it may be (past tense could start being used soon i think…bust #2 happening as we speak).

3) “Start-up” is certainly the new cool identifier for folks…though “entrepreneur” is timeless and i don’t consider it to be a part of the hype machine. I think people either have that in them (meaning they are willing to assume great risk for great reward) or they don’t. Most entrepreneurs these days are going the startup route, as, yes, it’s kinda sexy be associated with one. Others just make big investments and make their money at investment time or soon after. Very capital intensive and must less hyped except among the financial elite who are doing those kind of deals every day.

@Andrew, I’d say you are right on with your definition of a start-up. When did Google stop being a start-up? To Peter’s point, does it really matter?

Being a “start-up” is like the new cool thing. It is a status label — almost like being an “entrepreneur”.

@Peter, I’d say nclud is a “small business” — not really a “start-up”. We are definitely in start-up mode and all the definitions above seem to apply to us. We’ve been in business for just over one year now, are profitable, have sustainability and a strong and growing client base — have we out-grown start-up status?

To me, you grow out of start-up mode once you’ve reached some level of sustainability. I don’t really understand this desire to want to be classified as a “start-up” … isn’t the goal to out-grow it as soon as possible? Is this just the whole under-dog thing?

I’d say that Google stop being a start-up the day their primary search service gave their company sustainability.

That’s the case with iStrategyLabs and therefore wouldn’t jive with your definition. I’m trying to rap my mind around whether or not I consider my business a startup – not sure that it matters in the end. Do you consider nclud to be one? I think socialtimes is, as i know Nick is looking to create a media company and there’s a lot he needs to do to achieve that (funding is probably part of it, but i don’t know).

peter
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I think that a start-up is:

– a company in the early stages of development. This is defined as a pre-launch or post-launch and still in ramp-up phase, obtaining users/customers.

– likely high tech/web but not necessarily so.

– The company is not a slow-growth company, but one that has potential for exponential growth and scale.

– Investment activity like pre-funding, seed/angel, Series A shouldn’t affect whether something is a start-up or not. However, selling the company (exit of founders/initial investors) likely moves it into a “developed” company.

Google was a start-up once. When did it cease being one?

It is not only figuring out what defines a “start-up”, but I think it is important to be clear about the industry — in this Web2.0 world, it is often forgotten that there are start-ups outside the web/technology space.

There are many large entities with funding that I believe have put them outside the “start-up” classification, such as Digg, Twitter, Facebook, etc. So, a start-up can be too big to be a start-up, but can a start-up be too small to be a start-up? You by a domain, set-up a wordpress site and bame, you are a start-up? Is SocialTimes a start-up? Is your Wiki a start-up?

I saw an interesting comment a while back that I think defined a start-up in a similar way that I define a start-up. “While any new company could be considered a start-up, the description is usually applied to aggressive young companies that are actively courting private financing from venture capitalists”.

It makes for a compelling difference between a “small business” and a “start-up” — which can typically be one in the same. I think the term “start-up” has become over-used and incorrectly used, much like the term “entrepreneur”. Or my favorite one being used by all lately is “serial entrepreneur”.