[algoshift]

"startup" as a term of trade might be accepted within certain circles. Beyond that I think it sounds really dumb to anyone who's been in business for more than a few seconds.

One of my favorite WTF? phrases is "start a startup", particularly when uttered with the "gummy" California speech pattern of a 17-year-old.

Hmmm. "Start a Business", that's what you want to do. What the hell is "start a startup"? Some kind of a recursive call? Does it imply that you are in that mode forever?

When are you done "starting a startup"?

I can see someone saying "We are going to launch an experimental business to test an idea" or "We are going to test an idea for a business" or "We launched a business to test a few ideas". Now that make sense. The term "startup" is amorphous and "start a startup" sounds even dumber.

Oh, yes, then there's "do a startup".