The beauty of phrases like "beer money profitable" and "ramen profitable" is that people will understand what you really mean. Even a VC will understand that "beer money profitable" means that you clear $200 above raw expenses without accounting for the cost of your time (ie, it's a hobby that doesn't lose money).
The key in any communication is accurately conveying the facts. So use words that will be understood in context by the audience. For example, my own friends would use the same standard as a professional investor to define the term "profitable". They would think I'd lost my marbles if I claimed I was profitable making just $200 a month.
But if you're a high school student, and you're talking to your Aunt Nelly, sure you can use the term "profitable" to describe making $200 a month above expenses. In fact, if you were making $200K a month you would have to say "WAAAY more than profitable", lest she assume that "profitable" meant $200 a month.
Just be clear so that you're understood, in context.
Note that "ramen profitable", as I understand the term, means "throwing off enough money that the operators of the business can pay for adequate shelter and enough ramen-quality calories to avoid starvation".
That sounds like a pedantic distinction but it's not: ramen-profitability have runways denominated by the willpower of the founders, not extrinsic factors like "founders will soon be homeless".
Beer-money profitable carries none of the same connotations.
I don't think that GP were saying "ramen-profitable" and "beer-profitable" were synonyms, just that both terms are sub-categories of the more general term "profitable." If you're talking to a VC, you should prefer one of these more specific terms.
Paul makes a good point, and I think it's one the post addresses -- eventually. Context is everything, both in terms of talking to other people and being honest with yourself. I was a textbook example of the "Profitable since month one" crowd, since our reimbursed expenses < revenue, but when I'd go around saying that from people who started/ran businesses, there were a lot of rolling eyes.
It's really easy to look around at huge venture-funded flameouts that have never had a dime in revenue and be proud of what you've built. I know I sure am. But that doesn't mean, at the end of the day, you've created a truly profitable business. That shouldn't take away from what you've done, but it does provide a little more nuance that can be hard to swallow.
I think the important point people are missing is Raman profitable does not include the founders cost of living as 'profit'. You still need to pay taxes on your personal income and you don't get to deduct the full cost of rent as a business expense. What it means is you can cover taxes and a subsistence wage for the founders and still have some tiny amount of money aka profit left over.
Once, you can pay everyone a competitive salary and still have money left over there is no caveat and your just plain old profitable.
PS: And yes the IRS has a specific definition for profit so it actually matters.
The key in any communication is accurately conveying the facts. So use words that will be understood in context by the audience. For example, my own friends would use the same standard as a professional investor to define the term "profitable". They would think I'd lost my marbles if I claimed I was profitable making just $200 a month.
But if you're a high school student, and you're talking to your Aunt Nelly, sure you can use the term "profitable" to describe making $200 a month above expenses. In fact, if you were making $200K a month you would have to say "WAAAY more than profitable", lest she assume that "profitable" meant $200 a month.
Just be clear so that you're understood, in context.