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If we can have "Security Theatre," perhaps we can also have, "Growth Theatre," growth that is accompanied by lots of young go-getters that "look the part," who

If we can have "Security Theatre," perhaps we can also have, "Growth Theatre," growth that is accompanied by lots of young go-getters that "look the part," who meet in glass-walled offices so everyone can see how much busy-ness is going on. Meanwhile, the actual growth is being driven by investors burning cash to offer the product/service at an unsustainable price plus spending money like water on advertising. Which continues until the company is unloaded onto the public markets.

unlinked_dll 7y ago
I have a question for you, and the peanut gallery. If you hold this opinion - how many venture-backed startups have you personally been employed by? Because I see this attitude a lot, but as someone who has worked primarily at these enterprises (good and bad) I don't think you can think that way without being completely divorced from reality. Not all of us are working with Saudi money from Softbank. Startups that can't stay cash flow positive might as well be enriched uranium right now. Could be worth a lot of money to the right people, but you're not keeping it around the house.
- braythwayt 7y ago
  I've been earning an actual paycheque in this industry since the mid- 1980s. I have worked for a number of VC startups, my very first full-time programming contract was with a startup. I have seen the above Growth Theatre pattern many times. It's one of the things I have tried to avoid when interviewing employers in my career. In my anecdotal experience, the above pattern definitely exists, although having the kind of money to do that at the scale of a WeWork is extremely rare. Is it the majority of startups? No. Is it a significant proportion of startups? Probably not, although those who were around during the first dot com boom will remember the "burger patties," companies everyone knows were "built to be flipped." My claim is that there are a few companies in the Growth Theatre business all the time. That claim is not equivalent to claiming that this is the only business model for companies that take VC money.
- Apocryphon 7y ago
  Softbank has quite a big portfolio. There's plenty of firms in the Bay Area funded by them.
mrfusion 7y ago
Maybe there are way more “theaters” than we even know.

unlinked_dll 7y ago

I have a question for you, and the peanut gallery. If you hold this opinion - how many venture-backed startups have you personally been employed by? Because I see this attitude a lot, but as someone who has worked primarily at these enterprises (good and bad) I don't think you can think that way without being completely divorced from reality. Not all of us are working with Saudi money from Softbank. Startups that can't stay cash flow positive might as well be enriched uranium right now. Could be worth a lot of money to the right people, but you're not keeping it around the house.

braythwayt 7y ago
I've been earning an actual paycheque in this industry since the mid- 1980s. I have worked for a number of VC startups, my very first full-time programming contract was with a startup. I have seen the above Growth Theatre pattern many times. It's one of the things I have tried to avoid when interviewing employers in my career. In my anecdotal experience, the above pattern definitely exists, although having the kind of money to do that at the scale of a WeWork is extremely rare. Is it the majority of startups? No. Is it a significant proportion of startups? Probably not, although those who were around during the first dot com boom will remember the "burger patties," companies everyone knows were "built to be flipped." My claim is that there are a few companies in the Growth Theatre business all the time. That claim is not equivalent to claiming that this is the only business model for companies that take VC money.
Apocryphon 7y ago
Softbank has quite a big portfolio. There's plenty of firms in the Bay Area funded by them.

mrfusion 7y ago

Maybe there are way more “theaters” than we even know.