Start-up pitches as a spectacle of the good economy

Start-up founders often face the challenge of pitching their ventures to a heterogeneous audience, with varying expectations and values. In the early 21st century, start-up pitches have become increasingly complex, with the value of start-ups no longer conceived solely in economic terms, but also in moral, social, and environmental ones. This chapter explores how a start-up, presenting its value through "sustainability," navigates these multiple valuations during its pitch. Drawing on Goffman’s dramaturgical framework, Muniesa and Helgesson’s concept of "spectacles of valuation," and Asdal et al.’s concept of "the good economy," I coin the concept of "the spectacle of the good economy" to describe how start-up pitches function as public performances where valuation takes place between entrepreneurs and their audiences. Through an analysis of the pitch of a start-up (pseudonym: SoilSight) at a major agricultural trade fair, the chapter examines how material and semiotic elements of the pitch—particularly the "pitch deck" and the entrepreneur’s performance on stage—contribute to a valuation of the start-up as "sustainable," understood as a hybrid value that combines both economic and more-than-economic (social, moral, environmental) elements. By extending Peircean semiotics to the analysis of pitch performances, the chapter contributes to the understanding of how the good economy is staged, negotiated, and redefined in contemporary start-up culture.