A Startup Is A State Of Mind, Not A Word That Can Be Defined
<img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/530e3ee16da811ed4ce39565-1200-924/woman-drinking-coffee-morning-thinking-pensive-thoughtful-1.jpg" border="0" alt="woman drinking coffee morning thinking pensive thoughtful" />
What is a startup?
The dictionary defines it as "<span>the action or process of setting something in motion."</span>
Warby Parker co-CEO Neil Blumenthal has another definition: <span>"A startup is a company working to solve a problem where the solution is not obvious and success is not guaranteed," he told Forbes' Natalie Robehmed.</span>
Perhaps the most precise definition of a startup is that there isn't one. Being a startup, a lot of founders believe, is a state of mind. It's not a word that's restricted by the number of years a company has been in business, or the amount of revenue a business pulls in.
Jan Koum the co-founder of $19 billion WhatsApp, says a startup is a feeling.
"I think [a startup is] not connected not with time," he told journalist Nastya Chernikova (Google translated from Russian). "They say that age - it's not the number, but how it feels. For example, I do not feel like I'm 38. [Our] company is five years old but we are moving quickly and make decisions quickly, we build products, so we are still a startup. We do not have meetings, conferences etc."
<span>Another entrepreneur stated it more bluntly. Homejoy CEO Adora Cheung tells Forbes, "<span>[A] startup is a state of mind. I</span><span>t's when people join your company and are still making the explicit decision to forgo stability in exchange for the promise of tremendous growth and the excitement of making immediate impact."</span></span>
<b>See Also:</b>
<ul><li>Neil deGrasse Tyson: I Loved 'Gravity' But Here's What The Movie Got Wrong</li><li>MAP: The Most Popular Countries In The World To Visit</li><li>The California Drought In One Photo</li></ul></group><group id="8C498CFB-08E9-4474-B6E7-24558CAAD39F" type="seoLabels"><seoLabels></seoLabels></