Axiom: Words are just pointers to actual thoughts we intend to project<p>A startup is definitely a business, by definition of anyone who runs a startup that actually works. The author might have conveyed his point more astutely by choosing different terms. Saying that you are just building a startup and not a business because you are forcing your hand at growth prematurely seems a little immature because all of the people that have a different understanding of the word startup are going to be shaking their heads a little bit.<p>Startup are as much about marketing as they are about scaling out.<p>You have to have both balanced out, and there are many equally important aspects of any business. I think that forcing your business to grow before there are really any sales only works if you have a greater and over-arching sales or marketing plan that this plays into. That is, if you haven't proven your idea with real customer testimonials, or you arent better-solving some other problem that has already been proven to bring in revenue then it's just a mistake.