In my opinion ... a company cease to be a "startup" when several of the following are true:

- no longer running on funding rounds (ie, they're now profitable)

- no longer doing "major" new product development (not the same as not investing in R&D, new products, etc)

- mature into a "traditional" organizational structure (less "seat-of-the-pants", more "plan-and-execute")

- older than 10 years (though some startups transition at 3 years, and others might take 20...a decade seems a plausible age cut off)

- "adults" are running the place (this is not exclusively an age determination; more of a managerial/employee maturation indicator)

- no longer trying to "do the impossible" (beat MAGNAF, displace Uber, disrupt government...) - rather, working towards being "good" at what they're "good at", letting everyone else [more-or-less] alone

i despise the word. its overused and vague and sounds dumb. we already have words such as: business, company, venture and even side gig.

yes, im grumpy by nature.