3 Things in Tech | Intent, 0017

Intent is all about helping talent in tech become more intentional with their career by becoming more informed and more fluent about the goings-on within + around the industry. We welcome your feedback!

3 topics today:

• 2024 startup founder salary data!

• TikTok in hot water over Romanian elections?

• (Bluesky OR Threads) versus X

But first!

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Show Me the (Founder) Money

Kruze Consulting, a leading CPA firm for venture-backed startups, just dropped some eye-opening salary data in TechCrunch. If you've ever wondered what founders actually make, here's your answer: at the seed stage, CTOs slightly edge out CEOs ($134k vs $132k), while COOs clock in at $135k.

The progression is interesting, too. By Series A, CEOs jump to $183k, and Series B pushes them north to $218k.

And depending on your POV, these numbers are way below what these roles command at established companies. When a senior product manager can pull $200k+ in base and another $150k+ in liquid stock at a FAANG, you can see the real price of the founder’s lottery ticket and opportunity cost. It's a reminder that early-stage startups still run on dreams and equity – until you’ve raised major institutional cash at the Series A or B, and then things get more comfortable.

Algorithms v Democracy, Continued

Romania just gave us yet another view into social media's evolving influence into democratic processes. An ultra-nationalist candidate rode a wave of TikTok virality from obscurity to a commanding first-round victory in their recent presidential elections, with signs pointing to potential Russian interference in the content ecosystem.

According to Politico, media regulators and election observers are uncovering what they suspect is “a covert operation conducted through thousands of fake accounts.” Further: “The catchy TikTok clips that powered Georgescu’s unexpected surge were accompanied by dramatic music and subtitles. He was shown barely breaking a sweat on the running track, flipping opponents in judo — à la Putin — and riding a white horse in a traditional Romanian shirt.”

ByteDance and TikTok deny these claims.

Beyond any one platform in particular — Romania’s agencies have been defending and warning about cyberattacks, improper categorization of election material on social media sites, and other violations of European Commission oversight.

The Social Media Splintering

Bluesky has quietly climbed to 24 million users (Wired), a far cry from Meta’s Threads at 275 million — but user numbers don’t tell the full story.

Bluesky has become the spiritual successor to what Twitter used to be: quirky, dynamic, and unfiltered (ZDNET). Meanwhile, Threads feels like the corporate cousin: well-polished, but lacking depth and personality while being overfull with brands (Fast Company).

This isn’t just competition, though — it’s segmentation. The worry from users who are on all three platforms: they each feel distinctly different and lack user overlap, further segmenting us not just based on an “algorithm bubble” like we’re used to, but now a platform bubble.

In other words, you’ll get your left-wing politics and coastal-style humor if you’re on Bluesky, your milquetoast brand and influencer content on Threads, and your right-wing politics and business news + content on X/Twitter. And you’ll need to be on all 3 (a tall order) if you want a healthy mix.

And given that the negative effects of algorithm bubbles over the past decade have already seemed extreme and harmful… this type of "pseudo-philosophical” platform-based splintering, not just in social, but across AI, gaming, and even SaaS, might be something to watch out for.

And one more thing…

Keep your eyes on OpenAI tomorrow. They're kicking off 12 days of demos and product launches, and word on the street (via The Verge) is that we'll be seeing Sora and a new reasoning model in the mix. Could be a game-changing holiday season for AI.

That’s all for now —

Sent with Intent,
By Free Agency