Starting a startup is functionally the same as questioning “Capitalist Innovation”. Let’s say Verizon really did start doing some shady shit. If people cared enough they’d switch to a competitor and if the competitors were all shady too then they’d switch to a startup. And if they don’t? Well then maybe people just don’t care enough. (That can be a problem).
Another thing, people don’t really fetishize founders; they fetishize celebrities — people who have already made it. People don’t really use products because of the people who made it; most people don’t give a fuck who made it (unless you’re Elon Musk or Steven J). People use things because, surprise surprise, they find it useful.
Try starting a company and thinking “oh people will fetishize me” and see what happens. You will fail.
Now a better argument would be that technology can sometimes create things that we really like, but does not help us realize our higher values. Examples can be making cocaine more addicting, making snacks that make the dopamine neurons go BOOM. I agree with you, we definitely need to question what’s the best way to use new technologies to our advantage. But if you really cared about that, you’d care about the technologies that would really make a difference like super-AI. Not some social company.
I felt really jazzed the whole time while reading this post because it’s really great writing, but on reflection I have to say I don’t think there’s much substance.