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Sep 19, 2024

Just as software ate the world and dramatically transformed industries in the last era, taste is now eating software—and with it, Silicon Valley. www.workingtheorys.com Taste is eating Silicon Valley. In 2011, Marc Andreessen famously declared that software was eating the world . For a time, that was the undeniable reality. Software was the engine of transformation, revolutionizing everything from tech to finance and retail to healthcare. Back then, technical prowess meant market dominance. Y Combinator, the spiritual center of Silicon Valley, 1 crowned technical founders as the chosen ones. Those who could manifest and master software were seen as gods. Venture capitalists funded those who could scale that code to massive heights. After all, software alone could transform giant, legacy industries, rapidly and efficiently. It’s a different story today. Software has been commoditized — the result of technological advancement, decreasing cost and complexity, and democratization of coding as a skill. AI’s push into the mainstream has supercharged this shift. The lines between technology and culture are blurring. And so, it’s no longer enough to build great tech. Everyone’s software is good enough. Software used to be the weapon, now it’s just a tool. In a world of scarcity, we treasure tools. In a world of abundance, we treasure taste. The barriers to entry are low, competition is fierce, and so much of the focus has shifted — from tech to distribution, and now, to something else: taste. Taste is eating software. Taste is the new weapon. Whether in design, branding, or user experience, taste now defines how a product is perceived, felt, and adopted. Technology has become deeply intertwined with culture. People now engage with technology as part of their lives, no matter their location, career, or status. The markets being served now are cultural markets, where utility plus taste forms the foundation. In this new era, functional products are just supporting players in larger cultural movements. Founders are realizing they have to do more than code. They need to understand design, brand, experience, storytelling, community, and cultural relevance. The likes of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are admired not just for their technical innovations but for the way they turned their products, and themselves, into cultural icons. But the competition isn’t just within the tech world anymore — founders are up against celebrities and influencers that have an edge in distribution, branding, access, and cultural resonance, even if they’re not as readily tech-savvy. You could look at companies like Apple and Tesla and AirBnb and say taste matters because they’re classically consumer-facing businesses. But that’s not the whole story — consumer-driven traits like taste have infiltrated every corner of the tech world. B2C sectors that once prioritized functionality and even B2B software now feel the pull of user experience, design, aesthetics, and storytelling. Arc is taking on legacy web browsers with design and brand as core selling points. Tools like Linear , a project management tool for software teams, are just as known for their principled approach to company building and their heavily-copied landing page design as they are known for their product’s functionality. 2 Thriving companies like Arc and Linear build an entire aesthetic ecosystem that invites users and advocates to be part of their version of the world. Even in the most cutting-edge technical fields, taste is shaping the future as much as the technology itself. In the general-purpose AI chatbot sector, OpenAI’s ChatGPT came out strong as the market leader. Since then, Anthropic’s Claude , Google’s Gemini , Meta’s Llama , Microsoft Copilot , Perplexity , Poe , and others have joined the race from different angles. Yes, they’re competing on technical merits, but with how quickly AI is improving, it feels like they’ll converge on similar functionality. So how do they compete? On how they look, feel, and how they make users feel. 3 The subtleties of interaction (how intuitive, friendly, or seamless the interface feels) and the brand aesthetic (from playful websites to marketing messages) are now differentiators, where users favor tools aligned with their personal values. Investors can no longer just fund the best engineering teams and wait either. They’re looking for teams that can capture cultural relevance and reflect the values, aesthetics, and tastes of their increasingly diverse markets. How do investors position themselves in this new landscape? They bet on taste-driven founders who can capture the cultural zeitgeist. They build their own personal and firm brands too. They redesign their websites, write manifestos, launch podcasts, and join forces with cultural juggernauts. Code is cheap. Money now chases utility wrapped in taste, function sculpted with beautiful form, and technology framed in artistry. But what exactly is taste? The dictionary says it’s the ability to discern what is of good quality or of a high aesthetic standard. But who sets that standard? Taste may be subjective, but within a given culture or community, it can be calibrated. 4 Taste is some combination of design, user experience, and emotional resonance that defines how a product connects with people and aligns with their values and identity. At a minimum, taste isn’t bland — it’s opinionated. As Arnold Bennett famously said, ‘Good taste is better than bad taste, but bad taste is better than no taste.’ 5 Products make you feel something when you use them, and they make other people feel something about you. Products are no longer just functional tools; they are emotional touchpoints. Increasingly, products are designed as vehicles of self-expression and social signaling, reflecting your values, lifestyle, and identity. Products with technology at their core are closer than ever to art. Just as software ate the world and transformed industries in the last era, taste is now eating software—and with it, Silicon Valley. As taste continues to infiltrate every corner, the roles of founders and venture capitalists are evolving. Founders must now master cultural resonance alongside technical innovation. And investors? They must bet on which companies will lead the next wave of innovation, where tech and culture are no longer separate entities, but fused into one. The most compelling startups will be those that marry great tech with great taste. The challenge: Taste recognizes taste, but can traditional metrics recognize it too? In this new Silicon Valley, taste isn’t just an advantage — it’s the future. Founders must become tastemakers, and venture capitalists the arbiters of taste.