A startup is doing something rather new. It could be a new business model, product, or technology enabled service, but it's something generally unfamiliar in the world.
That word, Startup, is NOT a better distinction! It isn't cool to have a startup nor somehow better than being a business owner. Startups almost always fail.
We're making a mistake in our society by being unclear in our business language. An Angel investor is not a business investor nor is a business investor an Angel. These words matter as they set expectations by distinguishing what's being done.
No one would call a new Accounting firm a startup. The model is well known and familiar. Coding something to start a business doesn't make it any different! Technology does not a startup make. My coding a website to promote events doesn't make that a startup just because it's fairly new; there are many such sites and businesses.
That distinction matters in as much as it enables efficiency in our market/economy. We can only discern where to work, invest, mentor, and advise when it's clear what people are actually doing and why.
More Importantly
Startup refers to a stage
Small business refers to a type
No one today would consider Dell a startup. It's a big company. When Michael Dell started, it was certainly a startup, an idea and model largely new to the world. Were you to start a company like Dell today though, it wouldn't be called a startup, it’s a new business and at that point a small one.
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