Every Startup Is a Zine With VC Money

A zine is a publication about a scene, made by the scene, for the scene, at a loss. A startup is a product about a market, made by the market's enthusiasts, for a theoretical public, at a spectacular loss. The difference is the exit strategy, and the exit strategy is the whole difference.

Both run on belief before revenue. Both treat polish as suspicious. Both are made by three people in a room who have decided the incumbents do not understand the thing. The zine photocopies its manifesto; the startup renders it in a pitch deck with worse kerning.^[1]

The zine photocopies its manifesto; the startup renders it in a pitch deck with worse kerning.SCENE REPORT

The tragedy is directional: zines sold out by getting distribution; startups sell out by getting acquired, and the acquisition is celebrated as the point. No zine ever threw a party because a conglomerate bought its subscriber list. Then again, no zine ever had to. The stapler was already the whole empire.