Not Every New Venture is a Startup — and That’s Okay

Why Not Every New Business is a Startup — And Why That’s Perfectly Fine?

During Shark Tank and tech unicorn hey day, we’re more celebrating startups than ever. Emerging with a bold vision and often little resources, these innovative companies are an engine of progress — companies capable of reshaping industries and solving problems at scale that also cast a strong light on rare and exceptional talent. This celebration, however, has also led to a misconception: not every new business venture is a startup, even if its foundation has been laid by young, ambitious entrepreneurs. Knowing what exactly is a startup will allow founders to emphasize what truly matters, prevent from blunders, and put their businesses on the path to lasting success.

There’s more to “startup” than a trendy label. Simply stated, a company that is a startup aims to grow very fast in order to fill a major, under served market need. For the sake of argument we can define a startup as “an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model” first described by Steve Blank, a pioneering entrepreneur and educator. This idea of search is essential. Startups aren’t a copy of people who’ve figured out the business model beforehand, they experiments and pivot and adapt to a business model that’s…