In the era of startup “blitzscaling,” which lasted roughly from Facebook’s IPO in 2012 until WeWork’s bankruptcy filing in 2023, market capitalization and total capital raised were prized metrics. The ultimate milestone was reaching “unicorn status” — a $1 billion valuation that was often accompanied by rapid hiring.
These days, bragging rights are going to entrepreneurs who keep headcount the lowest.
If blitzscaling was powered by smartphones and the cloud, today’s faster, leaner growth comes courtesy of AI assistants, advisers, coders and marketers. Last year, OpenAI’s Sam Altman said his tech-CEO group chat had a “betting pool ...