The Iron Grip of "Jeremy’s Law": Why Corporate Success is a Product Failure

In the world of product design, we like to talk about "user-centricity," "empathy mapping," and "problem-solving." But there is a shadow principle that governs almost every major product you touch, from your smartphone to your kitchen appliances.

Let’s call it Jeremy’s Law.

Jeremy’s Law: Any publicly owned company will ultimately stop making decisions based on what is good for the customer or the product, and instead make decisions solely to manipulate the stock price.

It is the gravity of the corporate world—unseen, constant, and eventually, it pulls everything down to the lowest common denominator.

The Cycle of Enshittification

This law is the engine behind what Cory Doctorow famously termed "enshittification." It is the three-stage decay of any platform: first, it is good to users to build a base; then, it abuses those users to make things better for business customers; and finally, it abuses those business customers to claw back all the value for the shareholders. Under Jeremy’s Law, enshittification isn't a mistake—it’s the inevitable endgame of a successful public company.

The Pivot from Product to P/E Ratio

When a company is young and private, its survival depends on its product. If the product is bad, the company dies. Innovation is a necessity. But the moment a company goes public, the "customer" changes.

The customer is no longer the person using the app or buying the hardware; the customer is the shareholder. And the shareholder doesn't care if a UI is intuitive or if the hardware is durable. The shareholder cares about the "line." Is the line going up?

The Subscription Trap: Monetizing the Mundane

When a company is governed by Jeremy’s Law, design decisions follow a predictable, soul-crushing pattern. To keep the stock price climbing, companies can no longer rely on selling you a great product once; they must find ways to rent your own life back to you.

Take Toyota, for example. For decades, they built a brand on reliability and straightforward utility. Now, they are experimenting with charging monthly subscriptions for basic hardware functions like push-to-start and Bluetooth phone syncing. These aren't cloud services; they are local hardware functions you already paid for when you bought the car. But Jeremy’s Law dictates that "reliable transportation" is a finite profit, while "Key-Fob-as-a-Service" is an infinite revenue stream.

Double-Dipping: The Amazon Prime Example

We see the same decay in digital services. Amazon Prime Video was originally a perk of a paid membership—a way to reward loyal customers. However, once the user base became "captured," the law of the shareholder took over.

Amazon recently began playing commercials during movies and shows for all Prime members, even though those members are already paying for the service. To remove the ads, you must pay an additional fee. This is a classic "enshittification" move: degrade the existing experience to create a "solution" that the customer has to pay for twice.

Short-Termism over Longevity

Jeremy’s Law creates a fundamental conflict: Why build a product that lasts ten years when a product that breaks in three ensures a better quarterly earnings report next year?

When a company is public, saying "no" to a new revenue stream—even if it ruins the user experience—is often seen as a breach of fiduciary duty. If a CEO chooses to make a product more reliable at the cost of a 2% dip in quarterly dividends, the board will eventually find a CEO who won't.

Can We Break the Law?

The only way to fight Jeremy’s Law is to change the metrics of success. As long as "Value" is defined only by the ticker symbol, the products we love will continue to be hollowed out.

True innovation happens when the product is the end goal, not a vehicle for a stock option. Until we value "Product Integrity" as much as "Market Cap," we are just living in a world designed by spreadsheets, for spreadsheets.

The Takeaway: Next time you see a product update that hides a basic feature behind a monthly paywall, don't ask "What were the designers thinking?" Ask "What was the stock price doing?"

Jeremy's Law is always in effect.