Hi, have you realized that everything sucks now?
Constant error messages, ads, lag, the simplest tasks — parking, watching broadcast TV, doing laundry — that now require you to download an app, and zero human employees to help solve the myriad of glitches.
Corey Doctorow coined the term “enshittification” in 2022 to refer to digital products — dating apps, social media and share economy platforms, etc. — that first offered value to users, then to business customers, then to shareholders, deteriorating in the process.
Now here’s another fun term: “Rot economy.”
That sounds fun!
Sure does, and it comes via Ed Zitron, CEO of EZPR and Better Offline podcast host, who blames the tech industry’s obsession with quarterly growth, making shareholders happy while their products suffer in quality and increase in price.
In an episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Zitron said Big Tech is overconfident that users will stick with them, leaving the door open for entrepreneurs to create a product that doesn’t suck.
He predicts a shift away from Big Tech as consumers get fed up. This is something we’ve already glimpsed in people dumping X in favor of Bluesky or returning to hotels after becoming disillusioned with Airbnb.
But…
… how does a startup avoid the pitfalls of those that came before?
Zitron suggested focusing on sustainable growth and “customer mode,” not “founder mode” and becoming a $100B growth-at-all-costs company.
- He proposes a new ideal: the “really successful, happy $150m valuation company that plugs along, that’s profitable with happy people that work there with happy customers.”
Zitron, who does not sugarcoat his ire for Big Tech, and his way of thinking may run counter to what entrepreneurs regularly hear or aspire to, but it’s an especially interesting view in light of reports suggesting that many so-called unicorns enjoyed overinflated values and are now struggling as VC funding dries up.
