What does the term “startup” really mean? Paul Graham gave his take:

• Countless companies are started every day, yet only a fraction of them are startups.
• This is because to be a startup you have to be designed for massive growth. Most of the businesses that are started in the US are restaurants and salons. They are not created with rapid growth in mind.
• It is important to make it clear that a startup is only designed for growth. It doesn’t have to successfully attain growth to be a startup. Most startups fail.
• The best way to measure growth is by revenue. If the product is given away for free at first then the best proxy is number of users.

The full article goes into much deeper detail about what it means to be a startup and provides several tips for budding startup entrepreneurs. Read it over here.

Source: Paul Graham

Via: Kottke