16/08/2026
Is your company actually a startup?
At AICA, we receive applications from many companies looking for angel investment. And sometimes, before evaluating the product, market, team, or round, there is a more basic question:
Is this company a startup at all?
Not every new company is a startup.
Not every tech company is a startup.
Not every innovative company is a startup.
And looking for investment doesn't automatically make you one either.
Steve Blank's definition is probably one of the most useful:
“A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.”
Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, approaches it differently: "A startup is a company designed to grow fast."
The definitions aren't identical, but they point toward the same important distinction.
A startup is built around scalability and the potential for disproportionate growth.
Imagine a company that develops custom software for clients. It may have excellent technology, talented engineers, strong revenue, and 50 employees. But if doubling revenue essentially requires doubling the team doing the work, it may be a very successful technology business, but not necessarily a startup.
Now imagine a company building an innovative product that can serve 1,000 customers today and potentially 1,000,000 tomorrow without increasing its resources proportionally.
That's a very different model.
And this distinction matters particularly when you're raising from angel or VC investors.
Investors take significant risk because they are looking for companies with the potential to generate outsized returns. A healthy, profitable business can be a fantastic company and still not fit that investment model.
There is nothing “better” about being a startup.
⚠️ Startup is not a compliment. It's a type of company built for a particular kind of growth.
So before applying to an angel network and VCs or starting a venture round, it's worth asking:
Am I building a startup, or am I building a great business of another kind?
If your answer is “Yes, we are building a startup”, and you're ready to raise from angel investors, apply to pitch at AICA's upcoming Pitching Session.
