> I'm told really effective companies like Netflix are quite skilled at leveraging technology to scale out their platforms with very agile (read small) teams N

> I'm told really effective companies like Netflix are quite skilled at leveraging technology to scale out their platforms with very agile (read small) teams Netflix has over 1000 engineers, maybe close to 1500? Uber has ~3,000. If we assume these companies are handling similar amount of work, Netflix has only managed to do 2-3x better in terms of headcount to work ratio. (talking to friends at these companies, I think this paints a rosier picture of Netflix than is reasonable). As another commenter pointed out, there's also a real step change when you go global. The requirements in terms of governmental compliance and engineering effort to outcompete local software shoots up headcount significantly. With a global audience you generally need to be providing an excellent experience in more ways as local values and tastes can vary more significantly than you expect.