Vanity Theatre

Tech's favorite unspoken game

Tech runs on status games. Open LinkedIn. "Ex-Stripe" as personality trait. Angel investors name-dropping founders until their startup fails. VCs "humbled and honored" to announce their latest board seat while chasing the same three hot rounds.

Everyone plays while pretending they don't.

Titles change everything. As a product person, my feedback emails got 90% response rates. Founders shipped features from my midnight UX notes by morning. Then I joined venture. Same emails, same midnight testing sessions, same passion for products. Zero responses. My title changed, and suddenly genuine interest looked like deal sourcing.

Writing became my bridge back. Not writing for metrics or reach—just connecting dots I find interesting. But watching founders shift from "not looking for investment" to "your post really resonated" taught me something: authenticity cuts through status, but status opens the door.

The game shows up everywhere. Market maps? VCs craft them claiming to help founders see markets clearly. Founders mock them publicly, paste them into pitch decks privately. Everyone plays both sides. These symbols persist because they work—they're shortcuts to credibility in an ecosystem built on rapid trust.

That Midas list VC will update their bio the day rankings drop. That founder laughing at Forbes? Filling out their 30-under-30 nomination right now. That startup "heads down building"? Flying private to Vegas to learn poker from hall of famers.

Status games work. We all play them. The only difference? Some admit it.