What is a “startup”?
A startup is a company in the early phase of operation: searching for a repeatable, scalable business model under conditions of high uncertainty. Steve Blank defined startups as “temporary organisations designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model”; Paul Graham at Y Combinator emphasised growth as the defining characteristic (“a startup is a company designed to grow fast”). Both definitions distinguish startups from small businesses, which are stable operations with known economics.
What makes a startup a startup
- Uncertainty: the team is creating new value where the product, market or both are unproven.
- Growth ambition: non-linear scaling, often global, with venture-scale outcome potential.
- Capital path: external equity from angels, VCs, or growth funds typical; bootstrapping possible but rare for venture-scale models.
- Time-limited identity: startups stop being startups once the model is found and scaled: they become companies.
Startup stages
- Pre-seed: idea or early prototype; founder team forming.
- Seed: product shipped; early customers; searching for fit.
- Series A: product-market fit signals; scaling acquisition.
- Series B-D: scaling go-to-market; expanding internationally.
- Late stage: mature operations; preparing for exit.
In the Turkish startup ecosystem
The Turkish startup ecosystem has matured dramatically over the last 10 years: unicorns such as Trendyol, Peak Games, Getir, Insider and Dream Games have proven local and global success. Domestic early-stage support (TÜBİTAK BİGG, KOSGEB), domestic VC capacity (Inveo, Maxis, Sabancı Ventures) and access to international funds (500 Global, Earlybird Digital East) offer full-stack access. The Cyprus/Delaware HoldCo + Türkiye OpCo structure has become standard.
Do: name your company a startup only while you are genuinely searching for the model; transition to “company” language as scale becomes the focus.
Don’t: use “startup” indefinitely as an excuse for operating informality: at scale, the absence of process becomes the bottleneck.
Our analysis on this topic
- ›Equity Crowdfunding in Türkiye: How a Startup Raises Through a Licensed Platform Under Communiqué III-35/A.2
- ›Your First Ten Employees in Türkiye: The Employment Law Set-Up a Startup Needs Before the Second Hire
- ›Technopark and R&D Centre Incentives for a Turkish Startup: Law 4691, Law 5746 and the Three Per Cent Venture Obligation