Here's the way I see it - whether or not a company is profitable, rests entirely on executive management. It's their job to steer the company into profitability

Here's the way I see it - whether or not a company is profitable, rests entirely on executive management. It's their job to steer the company into profitability (by the right vision, strategies, and execution). For rank and file workers, that may just build up the company, should get paid for their work. A company can be worth a lot, but still perform poorly. If you have enough VC money coming in, you can purposely run a company unprofitable 'till for a long, long time - if you're goal is to simply undercut competition.