[mindcrime]

@pg has the right to try and define things however he wants, but he isn't the final arbiter of meanings of words in the English language. I see no reason to suggest that a company isn't a "startup" just because they aren't pursuing "double digit growth every month". There are plenty of ways to get big, and "slow and steady" is still one.

It's also important to realize that a company's growth rate will vary at times throughout its lifetime. You might start out as completely self-funded, bootstrapping, and work very slowly for some period of time, only to reach a certain point and say "OK, now its time to turn on the afterburners and go seek VC / PE money". And as a company matures (hello, Microsoft, IBM, CA, HP, etc.) its pretty close to inevitable that the growth rate will slow down.

The important thing is just to do what makes sense for where you are and what your goals are.