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When is a startup no longer a startup?

Female startup member

Our nation has such an impressive list of home-grown tech success stories, which shows it’s obviously a great place for startups to set up base and grow. But it’s that transition point I’ve been pondering this week. When does a startup stop being a startup?

Is the graduation from startup status connected to duration of existence? Level of funding received? Profitability? Number of employees?

Let’s see what the dictionary says:

Start-up /ˈstɑːtʌp/ n. A newly established business

[Oxford Dictionaries]

So, Oxford Dictionaries uses the duration of existence as the key factor in defining a startup, which seems fair enough, but it does raise questions about what exactly constitutes ‘new’. Deciding where to draw the line between new and old is particularly difficult....