Equity is supposed to be the counterbalance to this. That is, if you have a very significant stake in a company and every person you hire you need to also give

Equity is supposed to be the counterbalance to this. That is, if you have a very significant stake in a company and every person you hire you need to also give a significant stake, and every person they hire, on and so forth, you would think twice about just trying to throw more people at the problem of creating value. Of course, in reality the early folks just try to get fools to become bagholders of illiquid options that probably don't have a chance of being worth much once you factor in the liquidation preferences of VCs and that they are priced at absurd valuations once the VCs have gotten involved.