I think this is actually a better analogy than debt (notice that equity and debt are on the same side of the ledger); just as future valuation of the company is

I think this is actually a better analogy than debt (notice that equity and debt are on the same side of the ledger); just as future valuation of the company is uncertain, so may also be the business value of the quick hack. I.e. in the same way that a certain VC investment may or may not be wise, the quick hack has the same uncertainty attached. Add to this that the business people may have a bad grasp of the true cost of the hack, and the developers little insight into the business value of it, you get the current situation.