[adjkant]

Know this mostly isn't looking for an answer, but I think HN typically means something along the lines of:

"one with a significant development arm of their employees/business that is crucial to the company's success"

So any company run off an app or website that's complex and well made is probably a "tech company" even if it's in the business of cars, e-commerce, or widgets. There's no hard and fast rule here of course, but we don't need to pretend we don't know the gist of what people actually mean, even if "tech company" is a misnomer in many ways.

[mbesto]

> even if "tech company" is a misnomer in many ways.

Well it is a misnomer and that's precisely the point.

[adjkant]

And what's the use of that point? If people say X and many understand it means Y, even though by a dictionary/older meaning it can mean Z, being pedantic and trying to fight the natural language shift doesn't really help anyone.