The Expectations Game

Overview

This paper investigates the role of hype as a deliberate rhetorical strategy in early-stage resource mobilization among AI startups. Rather than treating hype as mere exaggeration or irrational exuberance, the paper conceptualizes it as a strategic rhetorical resource whose value is contingent on contextual factors — particularly the alignment between entrepreneurial claims and the evaluative frameworks used by investors, partners, and other resource providers.

Contribution to the Research Program

This paper sits at the intersection of the Resource Mobilization and AI & Deep Tech Entrepreneurship streams. It demonstrates that the challenge of building an AI venture is not purely technical but deeply rhetorical — entrepreneurs must navigate a landscape where expectations about AI capabilities are simultaneously inflated and uncertain. Within the Cyborg Entrepreneurship framework, the paper illuminates how the boundary between legitimate vision and strategic manipulation becomes blurred when the underlying technology is itself difficult to evaluate. It connects to the lab's broader interest in epistemic challenges: just as entrepreneurs struggle to evaluate AI outputs (per "Algorithmic Hallucinations"), investors struggle to evaluate AI-based venture claims.

Key Insights

• Hype functions as a rhetorical resource with contingent value, not as a uniformly positive or negative phenomenon
• The effectiveness of hype depends on the alignment between entrepreneurial framing and the evaluative criteria of target resource providers
• AI startups face unique rhetorical challenges because the technology itself resists easy evaluation by non-technical stakeholders
• The "expectations game" creates feedback loops where inflated expectations shape the competitive landscape for all AI ventures