<p><pre><code>  &quot;But though the graph has the word &quot;startups&quot; on it, it is not a graph of the number of startups, but of all new businesses.&quot;
</code></pre>
From what I have seen most of the world* that is not Silicon Valley, does define a startup as simply a new business. Yet whenever an SV person runs into someone understanding the term in the broad sense they don&#x27;t go, &quot;Sorry, I&#x27;m using the word in a more specialized way&quot;, they go &quot;Sorry, you&#x27;re using that word wrong&quot;. It seems to occur often enough that I feel like there must be a reason they feel the need to insist on it. Very similar to the word hacker in many ways.<p>* <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.merriam-webster.com&#x2F;dictionary&#x2F;start%E2%80%93up" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.merriam-webster.com&#x2F;dictionary&#x2F;start%E2%80%93up</a>
<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.oxforddictionaries.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;definition&#x2F;american_english&#x2F;start-up?q=startup" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.oxforddictionaries.com&#x2F;us&#x2F;definition&#x2F;american_eng...</a>