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

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.