Ask HN: Whats a startup? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Whats a startup?

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20 pointspclark17 comments

That's one of my favourite misuses of language on HN.

A start-up is a thing that you depend on or plan to depend on for a substantial part of your income, preferably all of it.

It takes up more time than anything else you are doing because it is probably the most important thing in your life at the moment (with the exception of your nearest family).

It is not some web project that you threw together in an afternoon, though it can not be ruled out that what you threw together in an afternoon will gain some traction and will eventually reach the state where it will fit the above criteria.

What's a good name for the thing you threw together in an afternoon? "My side project" seems to be the most common right now, but is there a better term? Is there a distinction between "my side project because I'm bored" vs. "my side project because I want to not work a regular job someday?"

"New webapp" works for most things discussed here, I think.

Project works for me. Website ? Webapp ? Proof of concept ? (if you plan on fleshing it out)

casual vs ambitious?

The first could always turn into the second.

I think the whole startup thing has a mythological aspect that's not at all helpful in building a business.

When someone asked me what I do when we were first starting, trying to figure out our product, get to launch, and get to revenue, I called it a startup. Now that we've released a successful product that creates enough revenue for us to operate profitably, I call it a company.

Maybe it's splitting hairs, but to me a 'startup' was always the initial step to building a business. I had no interest in being a 'startup guy', I wanted to have a profitable company.

So, do we have a plan to get to millions a year in revenue? Absolutely. Are we executing on that and expanding our product line? For sure. Are we a startup? Hell no- we're a business, and a profitable one.

That is a very good definition.

A startup is a startup only when it is in the stage of starting up. After some time it is either a business or dead.

This article makes a distinction between mature companies and startups, but I think the most important distinction is between simple web projects and startups.

The difference between a personal project and a startup is that a startup has a primary goal of profit, whereas the personal project may just be for fun or a personal exercise.

> most important distinction is between simple web projects and startups

Only on HN, I hope. A startup is a business, a corporation, with the intent of making money. A website is, at best, a product, possibly of that start-up.

I agree with the startup vs. project vs. other is more interesting and your distinction is an important one but more is needed.

Is a buying a corner-store or laundry mat mean you are running a startup? I think there are several other qualifications needed.

1.) There needs to be the intention to hire more than yourself/family as employees.

2.) There needs to be the intention to pay a return on investment to investors.

3.) The organization needs to be structured as corporation.

3.) should be 'The organization needs to be structured as a corporation or there have to be solid plans to do so.'.

Plenty of start-ups postpone the incorporation step until they have sufficient traction. There are good reasons to do so, for one during the initial phase the 'founders roster' is subject to change and once someone is on board it can be very hard to remove them again if they have stock. So it's better to wait for a bit until the 'shake-out' has taken place.

That way you have a much better idea about the amount of weight each of the founders is going to pull and the stock issued can reflect that.

Before the real work starts everybody is always available, once it starts you know how solid those commitments are.

Your also missing out on the fact there are "mature startups" that really should be classed as personal projects since there's no real revenue, only eyeballs.

Sure, like OSAF, the "Open Source Applications Foundation", is really just a pet project of Mitch Kapor.

Who cares? I mean really, what's the point of trying to define it, or figure out what companies fit or don't fit under that label?

I have a small company I founded with a couple of partners. Based on discussions here some people would consider it a startup, others wouldn't. That doesn't change how I run the business, how I make money, or how I picture myself and my company. Some labels are important for communicating clearly. I don't think "startup" is one of them, especially since everyone has a slightly different definition in mind.

A word, which like many other words, has attributes assigned to it variously by different people, most in a totally arbitrary fashion, and which regardless of definition does not assist in separating customers from their money.

I understand that startup is early stage company which not reach mainstream customers, yet.

So they sell to earlyvangelists customer and work or redefine their vision to reach that big mass market.

From my dictionary:

Startup: any business during the first year.

Not during planning, web design, hiring, marketing or any other phase.

Once you hang that "We're open" sign on your door you're a startup for the next year.

From a lemonade stand to intergalactic travel, size doesn't matter.

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