The mathematical irony is just *chef's kiss*. Standing in the middle of a sigmoid curve and declaring everything looks exponential is like being in the eye of a hurricane and saying it's just a light breeze. The steepest part of a sigmoid is indeed nearly linear - that's literally the point! It's where the curve transitions from slow growth to plateau.
This is the perfect metaphor for people who discover a trend halfway through and think they've spotted the next big thing. "Bitcoin's going to the moon!" Yeah, right after you bought at the inflection point. Next thing you know, you're a stick figure on a flattening curve wondering where all your money went.