A business often marked by an innovative management style, a fast development cycle, and a single product.

A young company that is often still creating their first product, refining their monetization strategy and developing business relationships.

The only way to convince 50 year old professionals to burn several million dollars, often in a furnace located somewhere in or around Palo Alto.

Other Definitions

Wikipedia,

A startup company or start-up, upstart, or high tech startup company is a business with a limited operating history.

While slow-growth businesses may be startups, investors are most attracted to those new companies distinguished by their risk/reward profile and scalability. That is, they have lower bootstrapping costs, higher risk, and higher potential return on investment. Successful startups are typically more scalable than an established business, in the sense that they can potentially grow rapidly with limited investment of capital, labor or land.

Dictionary.com,

of or pertaining to the beginning of a new project or venture, esp. to an investment made to initiate such a project, as in a commercial or industrial enterprise: high start-up costs.

Citations

How To Ensure Your Startup Will Fail,

There are a lot of Web 2.0 companies out there. If you don’t believe me, check out Web 2.0’s archive. For every Digg or Twitter there are dozens of sites that provide great services that flame out. Unfortunately, the fault does not lie in fickle consumers or bad luck — it falls directly on your shoulders.

Luckily, most of the worst startup mistakes are things that you can change. What better time than the beginning of the week to take a look at some of them?

8 Tips To Launch A Successful Web Startup,

When I put this list together I asked myself what I wish I had been told about startups a year ago. Hopefully this list will give you a clearer picture on some pitfalls to avoid in starting a web venture.

1. Bad communication is the death of small companies. Get development and marketing on the same page as soon as you can.

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