Enshittification is Real

I ignored advice from potential investors. Here’s why.

As I was graduating from the SCU Bronco Venture Accelerator, where I worked alongside brilliant mentors, advisors, and fellow founders, I came across this quote from Seth Godin that really resonated with me:

“Enshittification is real. VCs and public markets push the companies they invest in to maximize profits. First, please the customers. Then, double cross them to please the advertisers. Finally, double cross both of them to please the stock price,” says Seth Godin.

This aligns with our philosophy as we grow Brand Story Machine.

In talks with well meaning potential investors, we were often advised to remove the human element and fully automate. While we automate a large part of our brand development process, keeping the human touch was a deliberate choice.

Because we started by listening. I spoke with dozens of founders and small business owners about their feelings towards AI in stragegic brand development, and what I heard was:

We don't trust AI alone to build our brand.

I firmly believe in listening to customers first. Real, lasting brands are built with humans at the heart of the process. And I believe that by staying true to that philosophy, strong brands are builit that help businesses thrive.