This is such an annoying new trend to claim one's company is in "startup mode" when it is all just superficial or even straight out bullshit; it has become quite the trend in NYC now.
One place I declined to work at claimed to be in startup mode yet their offices looked like those of a financial company (which they were not), everyone seriously dressed up, and the code base and infrastructure was pretty big and inherited from the parent organization.
A place I used to work at is also going through the motions of "becoming a startup" -- a company that has not been an internet startup for over 10 years. Apparently being a startup means rewriting the whole codebase in Java, offering free snacks and drinks, tearing down the walls from the cubicles (say goodbye to ever getting "in the zone" when coding), and calling daily standups and using JIRA "being AGILE". Sticking feathers in ones butt does not make one a chicken...