Growth At All Costs

Years ago I used to be enamoured by the startup community. So many people building innovative companies and changing the world. The stories of small beginnings and huge achievements were enticing. The advice they spouted made sense. Pour your days and health into your work. Aim as big as possible. Success is only real if it's exponential. Move fast, break things.

Now as those companies have matured and I have too it's become glaringly obvious how wrong that path was for me. When companies with billions of users are still obsessed with growth and profits over doing the right thing you have to wonder if any of those beliefs are worth it. At one point do you stop? Where do you draw the lines? For most, there doesn't seem to be a line. A trillion dollars? Nah. Keeping your employees safe in a pandemic? Nope. Enforcing your own rules despite potential criticism? Not today.

If that's where the startup ethos leads then it's completely broken.