Is Being "Cool" Scalable?

I'm going to start this off by acknowledging that "cool" is a subjective term. However, as I've spent quite a lot of time on LinkedIn lately, I've noticed that there's a similarity between the life cycle of slang use and the life cycle of a company.

Now you might be thinking, "How is slang even remotely related to a company?" And you would be asking the right question, so I'm going to give you the answer.

The Life of Slang

I'm certain Adam Aleksic, or the EtymologyNerd, has talked about this at some point on social media, but I'll give a brief overview of the pattern:

• Slang starts off niche, most often used by kids at school.
• Adults hear kids speak and don't understand what the kids are talking about.
• Slang spreads on social media, discourse happens, and people start translating slang.
• Once slang starts hitting mainstream news, it becomes "uncool".

Not all slang dies, but a good amount of it definitely does. Some stick around and get added to the dictionary. Others die off and come back some years later.

The Life of a Company

Startups are all the hype lately, as it's gotten even harder to find an entry-level job. Everyone is grinding for their own opportunity at success. Folks are posting on LinkedIn, Instagram, and anywhere they can to establish a brand for themselves.

When one founds a startup or is working at a startup, they're usually very invested in the startup's vision and are highly motivated towards making things work and growing the business. As you expand the team, it gets increasingly more difficult to find those who are aligned with the vision. Sometimes it's a "too many cooks in the kitchen" issue, other times it's simply a lack of alignment and differing incentives.

In the Bay Area, startups will fundraise, usually via VC investments, sometimes with angel investors. We've heard of Pre-Seed, Series A, Series B, all the way through E and F rounds of funding, each letter indicating a progression in the level of growth.

One of the most common things we hear about online in the corporate space is the growing pains of a company as a startup transitions into a company with hundreds or even thousands of employees. When a startup is formed, it often feels like a group of friends working towards a dream together. There's a great level of camaraderie. However, as a team expands, it gets harder to maintain that intimacy. There can definitely be a culture that spreads, usually inspired by the vibe of the founder, but the drive to work towards the vision sometimes weakens as a team expands.

What I've found as I've worked on my own creative projects that have required "hiring" or scouting collaborators or talent, is that, if someone isn't already bought in on the vision and is aligned, they will likely only want to join the team if they are going to be compensated. The new team member will need to feel like they're getting sufficient value from the time that they are spending, either monetary or a learning experience. When a startup becomes "successful", it often drives a wave of prospective applicants who only want to join for the name of the company and not because they are aligned with the vision.

As a company grows, there is also the struggle with implementing quality controls on work performance, as well as processes to coordinate all of these employees. And as the amount of process increases, sometimes so does the bureaucracy. Often, those who thrive in fast-paced startup work environments struggle to maintain that drive in a scaling or plateauing company. Hence, it becomes "uncool" to stay and work there.

From a consumer product perspective, as a company grows, it must find a way to be profitable. Sometimes the initial business model has to evolve as things scale. The company may decide to IPO and place itself on the public stock market. When this decision is made, users will perceive a sort of "enshittification" as a product evolves and introduces features to maximize profit as it hits the mainstream. When a product does become enshittified, users will often switch to alternatives. Hence, the company's product becomes "uncool" to use.

If a company does not evolve to cater to its audience, then it will fall apart, and a new startup will take its place.

Perhaps it is safe to say that "cool" is used to describe something that holds momentum or is a rare find. Mainstream isn't "cool"– being unique or part of a niche is. Hence, I argue that being "cool" isn't scalable.