Spot-on, in most regards. I work at a MAANG company that, for the past 5-10 years, has been hiring like OpEx was free and spending money without organizational

Spot-on, in most regards. I work at a MAANG company that, for the past 5-10 years, has been hiring like OpEx was free and spending money without organizational budgets. This is an unsustainable cultural attitude using capital inefficiently by promoting lavish expenses and unbounded CapEx projects, neither of which necessarily translate into business value (or investor returns). Hiring or spending on assets with hockey stick trajectory doesn't necessarily translate into "build it, and they (customers) will come (and spend money)". There is a reasonable balance between a budget process that is overly strict which hamstrings productivity and spending money without any cost controls. The knee-jerk tendency to cut staff and budgets in perceptions of macro downturns in business may be harmful to current and future operations, especially if done without proper priorities such as sabotaging current and future cash cows. TL;DR: Don't cut staff or budgets because everyone else is out of fear. Look at the numbers, and explain to equity owners the decision analysis of to cut or not to cut, and where and why. PS: Obliquely, Stanford University enacted blanket budget cuts in the past to "virtue signal" an image of fiscal responsibility to peers and donors, but their finances and endowment were such that they were unnecessary.