It is interesting to see that a successful startup is defined as being the top 1% of employment growth in its first 5 years. I wonder if Theranos would've also been included in this definition. In some culture, selling your own company or having no revenue are considered failures. Yet those "failures" are common theme in the valley.

In my own startup experiences, whatever founders goals may be, startups are successful (only?) when they exit their startup phase with goals achieved.