No kidding. Sure feels like bending the statistic to fit your argument. I will concede that larger teams are less cost effective and the cost goes up exponent

No kidding. Sure feels like bending the statistic to fit your argument. I will concede that larger teams are less cost effective and the cost goes up exponentially compared to productivity as the team gets larger (per Steve McConnell: "Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art"). BTW the "Software Estimation" book is really awesome and in my opinion a must read for anyone in a tech company with a leadership role. It's true smaller teams are more efficient. But I feel like it trivializes the complexity, comparison, especially when a lot of good detailed works on the subject already exist.