Paul Graham characterizes marketing strategies designed to intentionally anger people for attention as a tactic of "scammers." He argues that such approaches reveal a lack of long-term focus and earnest engineering, predicting that companies relying on these gimmicks will never become truly massive.

Even if 99% of a VC's portfolio is solid, one viral "rage bait" company can dominate public perception. Due to the internet's nature, this single controversial investment can get 1000x more attention, tarnishing the fund's brand and making it known for "slop" rather than its serious investments.

Using rage bait as a core product feature, rather than just a marketing tactic, actively repels the potential investors, customers, and talent a startup needs. Successful VC-backed companies must build a supportive coalition, which this strategy fundamentally undermines.

Oxford naming "rage bait" its word of the year signifies that intentionally provoking anger for online engagement is no longer a fringe tactic but a recognized, mainstream strategy. This reflects a maturation of the attention economy, where emotional manipulation has become a codified tool for content creators and digital marketers.

Startups like 'Chad IDE' are moving beyond using outrage for marketing. Their core product differentiation—like integrating gambling into a code editor—is the rage bait itself. This strategy risks alienating potential investors, customers, and talent, who may actively root for the company's downfall.

A/B testing on platforms like YouTube reveals a clear trend: the more incendiary and negative the language in titles and headlines, the more clicks they generate. This profit incentive drives the proliferation of outrage-based content, with inflammatory headlines reportedly up 140%.

The IVF company Nucleus ran a subway campaign with provocative slogans like 'Have your best baby' to deliberately anger a segment of the population. This 'rage bait' strategy manufactures virality in controversial industries, leveraging negative reactions to gain widespread attention that would otherwise be difficult to achieve.

A VC firm's brand can be disproportionately defined by its most controversial investments, even if they represent a tiny fraction of the fund's capital. A single high-engagement, 'slop' company can easily overshadow a portfolio of solid, less sensational businesses in the public eye.

Constant exposure to top founders and a build-centric environment at YC creates an irresistible "itch" to start a company. The organization accepts that its best employees will almost always leave to become founders themselves, not to join other tech giants.