Outsourcing is still significantly cheaper and less resource intense, particularly when it comes to more automated processes such as HR. However I see your poi

Outsourcing is still significantly cheaper and less resource intense, particularly when it comes to more automated processes such as HR. However I see your point. Your second point however makes little sense. The article posits whether this is possible, not setting this up as a goal or recommendation for startups to pursue. As more things become automated or rolled into services, companies have less need for large workforces, which is a trend that has been seen over the past several decades in a number of industries. This is part of the reason for the boom in startups recently. Much of the groundwork such as infrastructure and frameworks have been covered by existing services that previously needed to be created from scratch by previous generations of startups.