I am an industry analyst and pay a lot of attention to head count. I use similar metrics to the author to estimate revenue for each of 2,000 companies I track.

I am an industry analyst and pay a lot of attention to head count. I use similar metrics to the author to estimate revenue for each of 2,000 companies I track. I usually have a friendly CEO in a sub-segment that will share their revenue numbers so I use their revenue per employee to estimate all the other's revenue. But even more valuable is tracking change in headcount Q/Q. And yes, growth and success is reflected in head count. Of course there is always a bump up after they get the big A round or B round, but now they have investors looking over their shoulder to make sure they keep an eye on cash flow.