I read an article in the Register today about a new hyper-converged appliance from Atlantis, written by Chris Mellor in his usual inimitable style. What really got my attention was his description of Atlantis as a “startup”. As they were founded in 2007, 8 years ago my friends, I started to wonder what constitutes a startup? I am sure Atlantis’ marketing peeps would not want to be considered a startup; if you’ve been in business for 8 years surely you’re more mature than that? However, there are advantages to being labeled a startup in technology as it gives the impression to the reader you’re an innovator. I have known of companies 10 years and older that have changed their strategy and product focused and re-christened themselves a startup because it suited their desire to be seen as innovative. But if you’ve already received 4 rounds of funding, I really wouldn’t consider that a startup!
However, having researched the interweb for this post, I came across many definitions of startups; from dictionaries to business leaders but this is the one I prefer:
In reviewing the Atlantis HyperScale announcement, perhaps the term startup is appropriate for them in this instance; they’re taking a whole different direction and, perhaps, are entering the phase that the descriptor above defines?
Whatever your definition of a startup is, it is exciting to see the continued innovation – completely new or just re-cycled – in our industry today.