The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg

# The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg *A fable for the creator economy* --- You know the story. A farmer discovers his goose lays golden eggs. One egg a day. Enough to live well, to build something sustainable, to grow. But the farmer gets greedy. One egg isn't enough. He wants all the gold *now*. So he kills the goose. And finds... nothing. Just a dead bird and the end of his fortune. --- ## The Modern Fable This is the story of the internet economy. Of platforms that found their golden goose — their users, their creators, their data — and couldn't resist killing it. - **Surveillance capitalism**: Extract every piece of attention, every data point, until users are exhausted and trust is destroyed. - **Engagement farming**: Optimize for rage and addiction, not value, until the platform is toxic and everyone leaves. - **Enshittification**: Start generous, hook users, then squeeze — until the golden eggs become lead. The farmer's logic: "If one egg is good, all the eggs at once is better." The farmer's fate: Broke, with a dead goose. --- ## A Different Kind of Goose What if there was another way? What if you built something designed to keep laying eggs? Something that: - **Respects the source** — Your audience isn't a resource to extract from. They're the reason you exist. - **Grows sustainably** — One egg a day, compounding. Not a lottery ticket. - **Values longevity** — A goose that lays eggs for years beats a goose killed for a one-time jackpot. This is why we built Goose. --- ## Golden Eggs, Not Gold Rushes Goose's marketing funnels aren't designed for maximum extraction. They're designed for maximum *trust*. - **No dark patterns** — Your visitors make informed choices - **No surveillance** — We don't track your audience for you (or anyone else) - **Sustainable conversion** — Build relationships, not just transactions The golden egg isn't the sale. The golden egg is a customer who trusts you, comes back, and tells others. Kill that goose, and you've killed your business. --- ## The Moral Build products that keep laying eggs. Treat your audience like the source of your wealth, not a mine to exhaust. And when you're tempted to optimize for the short term at the cost of trust, remember the farmer. He had a goose that laid golden eggs. *Had.* --- *This story was written to explain why Goose works the way it does. If it resonates, share it to your Goose site and add your own thoughts.*