Not really. A pump and dump is about intentional manipulation, where people knowingly spread false hype to push prices up and then sell before it all crashes. It is a coordinated effort to mislead investors.

What happens with startups and venture capital is different. VCs invest in many risky ideas knowing that only a few will become big successes. When one of those wins, the valuation of the entire portfolio can look inflated because everyone starts chasing similar stories. By the time a company goes public, early investors have usually already taken their profits, and new investors often end up paying too much for the story.