Why successful startups stumble at 40 employees
It always astounds me that growing the number of employees is one of the key metrics of "growth" startups looks for. As if an unprofitable company with 500 employees is somehow more prestigious than a profitable one with 50. Perhaps it's pressure from VCs to chase market share over profits, founder ego, or something else entirely, but it's always struck me as a troubling trend in the startup world. I recall (several years ago) looking up how many employees worked at Twitter and seeing it was over 900 and thinking, "What in god's name are those 900 people doing all day?"