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17 lines
1.6 KiB
Markdown
17 lines
1.6 KiB
Markdown
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title: "Against chasing growth"
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date: 2023-01-04T15:05:39-08:00
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replyURI: "https://equel.social/@alasaarela/109553882021683216"
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replyTitle: "Let's also allow VC-backed startups to flourish building services for all of us"
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replyType: "SocialMediaPosting"
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replyAuthor: "Mikko Alasaarela"
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replyAuthorURI: "https://equel.social/@alasaarela"
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---
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> I see a lot of discussion about the fear that corporations and <abbr title="Venture Capitalists">VCs</abbr> will take over the fediverse. The thing is, Mastodon going mainstream will require a lot of capital and development of new products and innovations for this ecosystem...Let's also allow VC-backed startups to flourish building services for all of us.
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This isn't Silicon Valley. We're not trying to "innovate" or "scale" or "go mainstream". We're avoiding that culture. Granted, most of us aren't _opposed_ to the idea of going mainstream, but we're not chasing that goal for its own end.
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The kind of growth I'm interested in is being welcoming to new marginalized users (e.g. those from <abbr title="Black, Indigenous, People of Color">BIPoC</abbr>, neurodiverse, and queer communities). Venture capital, however, chases growth for a return on investment; this isn't guaranteed to be in alignment with the extant community's goals, and will likely come in conflict with time. The history of every "successful" VC-backed social media platform to date (Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, etc) says as much.
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The protocols are open; you're free to do what you will. I only ask that you loudly announce all instances run by people subscribing to your vision whenever you find them, so we can contain the spread.
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