The labor of assetization: producing ‘hypergrowth’ inside a tech startup

IF 3.2 2区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Socio-Economic Review Pub Date : 2024-09-17 DOI:10.1093/ser/mwae057

Benjamin Shestakofsky

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Venture capitalists maximize profits not by ‘squeezing’ efficiencies out of established companies, but instead by promoting ceaseless experimentation aimed at helping startups achieve ‘hypergrowth’. To date, there is limited empirical evidence of both how startups achieve hypergrowth, and the impact of these practices on organizations and workers. This article draws on 19 months of participant-observation research inside a venture-backed startup I call AllDone to trace the links between the institution of venture capital and the organization of work. Although AllDone executives engaged in cost-cutting strategies common to other financialized firms, they also developed distinctive corporate strategies and organizational structures. Each of the company’s three work teams was organized to perform interdependent functions in support of venture capital’s imperative for rapid and exponential asset value inflation. I conclude with a discussion of the article’s implications for research on venture capital, startup work, and the relationship between financialization and work more broadly.

查看原文本刊更多论文

资产化的劳动：在科技初创企业内部实现 "超速增长

风险资本家不是通过 "压榨 "老牌公司的效率来实现利润最大化，而是通过推动无休止的实验来帮助初创企业实现 "超速增长"。迄今为止，关于初创企业如何实现超高速增长以及这些做法对组织和员工的影响的经验证据还很有限。本文通过对一家风险投资支持的初创企业（我称之为 AllDone）进行 19 个月的参与观察研究，追溯风险投资机构与工作组织之间的联系。尽管AllDone的高管们采取了其他金融化公司常见的削减成本战略，但他们也制定了与众不同的公司战略和组织结构。该公司的三个工作团队分别履行相互依存的职能，以支持风险资本对资产价值快速、指数式膨胀的要求。最后，我将讨论本文对风险投资、初创企业工作以及更广泛的金融化与工作之间关系研究的启示。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Socio-Economic Review Multiple-

CiteScore

6.80

自引率

10.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： Originating in the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE), Socio-Economic Review (SER) is part of a broader movement in the social sciences for the rediscovery of the socio-political foundations of the economy. Devoted to the advancement of socio-economics, it deals with the analytical, political and moral questions arising at the intersection between economy and society. Articles in SER explore how the economy is or should be governed by social relations, institutional rules, political decisions, and cultural values. They also consider how the economy in turn affects the society of which it is part, for example by breaking up old institutional forms and giving rise to new ones. The domain of the journal is deliberately broadly conceived, so new variations to its general theme may be discovered and editors can learn from the papers that readers submit. To enhance international dialogue, Socio-Economic Review accepts the submission of translated articles that are simultaneously published in a language other than English. In pursuit of its program, SER is eager to promote interdisciplinary dialogue between sociology, economics, political science and moral philosophy, through both empirical and theoretical work. Empirical papers may be qualitative as well as quantitative, and theoretical papers will not be confined to deductive model-building. Papers suggestive of more generalizable insights into the economy as a domain of social action will be preferred over narrowly specialized work. While firmly committed to the highest standards of scholarly excellence, Socio-Economic Review encourages discussion of the practical and ethical dimensions of economic action, with the intention to contribute to both the advancement of social science and the building of a good economy in a good society.