It's not about becoming large and bureaucratic, that's a result, not the cause, in my opinion. It's the result of having a large enough footprint to require leg

It's not about becoming large and bureaucratic, that's a result, not the cause, in my opinion. It's the result of having a large enough footprint to require legal checks, it's the result of having lots of investors and shareholders meddling with how the company should function (since those are only interested in ROI, and as fast as possible). When a company gives out its control to 3rd parties that are not involved in what the company does, and only cares about financial statements, it loses its spark. Not because they decided to lose it but that's how the market forces act: squeeze out as much as possible, for as little as possible, and call it a good day. The only counterpoint to that phenomenon is what some large-ish private companies do: stay private, don't get investment from external investors who haven't bought into what the company is providing as value to society, don't get investment from people looking to make their money 2-10x in a short period of time (short being around 10 years). The moment a company enters squarely into the current financial markets it's doomed to just become a carcass of whatever vision it had, it's now just another commodity. Edit: and every startup founder wants to be different and not fall for this, I don't think many manage, after some rounds of investment it's not in your power anymore to decide that, your VCs and other members in the cap table control you. "Silicon Valley" is such good satire exactly because it depicts almost exactly how that happens.