I’ve been thinking about enshitification recently, and I’m also working on a startup with a friend that just received funding. I’ve been wondering how one might arrange a business such that it won’t gradually trend towards shittier products in search of higher profit margins.
Obviously, it would be nice to redesign all of society so that this isn’t a thing, but barring that, does anyone have any ideas for setting up a business in such a way that motivations are aligned with producing a good product?
Currently, we’re trying to retain as much control as possible, but at some point we may go public, and if we do, I’m not sure how to keep us aimed at accomplishing our goals. We’re building a platform that should solve or at least improve the replication crisis in scientific research, and we could lose control to investors that want board seats, or sell to someone like Google.
If we do either, I doubt the company will do what we want it to do in the long term.
Going public is the route that seems less likely to lead to this change in direction, but it seems like it could end in the same place over a long enough timeline.
Wall Street has perfected this cycle. If you accept investor money, you will be enshittified. Their only goal is to make as much money as fast as possible. They don’t care about your future, your company’s future, the country’s future or indeed even their own future. They want money now and will twist the screws on you until they get it. Think of “investors”/Wall Street as The Mob and you’ll get an idea of your future if you should ever be so desperate as to deal with them.
This is the response I was going to make.
If you accept outside money, you will enshittify. There is no exception to this rule. Externally-funded companies are in one of two states: in the process of enshittifying or enshittified.
Make your business with an eye toward self-sustenance. If you accept outside ownership your business is gone.