JOURNAL ARTICLE

The labor of assetization: producing 'hypergrowth' inside a tech startup.

  • Published In: Socio-Economic Review, 2025, v. 23, n. 1. P. 445 1 of 3

  • Database: Sociology Source Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Shestakofsky, Benjamin 3 of 3

Abstract

This article examines how venture capital (VC) investment shapes organizational practices and labor experiences within startups, focusing on an ethnographic study of a venture-backed tech firm pseudonymously called AllDone. It highlights that VC investors prioritize rapid, high-risk experimentation and hypergrowth to inflate firm valuation, influencing distinct roles across three interdependent work teams: San Francisco-based software engineers who drive continual product experimentation; Filipino contractors who perform stable, routinized data work supporting platform operations; and Las Vegas-based customer support agents who manage user frustrations intensified by frequent platform changes. The study reveals how VC’s financial imperatives produce uneven work experiences and organizational inequalities, with high-status employees benefiting from equity and innovation excitement, while lower-status contractors face monotony or emotional labor without stock options. These findings contribute to understanding the interplay between financialization, startup labor processes, and the broader socio-economic impacts of VC-driven growth models.

Additional Information

  • Source:Socio-Economic Review. 2025/01, Vol. 23, Issue 1, p445
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Business and Management
  • Publication Date:2025
  • ISSN:1475-1461
  • DOI:10.1093/ser/mwae057
  • Accession Number:182368339
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