>> It now takes more employees than ever before to get a startup company off the ground. But that is not true. If you look at the startups of the late 90's--

>> It now takes more employees than ever before to get a startup company off the ground. But that is not true. If you look at the startups of the late 90's-- the time when people learned that stock options could be very valuable-- it took a lot of engineers and infrastructure to make a tech start up. As you point out more services and frameworks exist now. The reason why it takes more employees is the reason cited in the paper, companies stay private longer to make more money for growth investors. I agree completely with your point about the impact on employees. It's just that its not because the product requires it, it is because investors want the private growth.