I'm wondering if the culture of an "exit plan" may be a contributing factor.
I grew up in a world, where companies were supposed to be ongoing concerns, with no end in sight. You established a company, and worked towards achieving at least an equilibrium, if not growth. Most brick-and-mortar companies are like this. The focus is on the product/service provided by the company, and all efforts are devoted to maximizing efficiency and steady profitability. Plans are made with a long view, as the company needs to be around to support their product. I know a lot of folks that own/run standard companies. None of them want to sell the company (it does happen, but it's an unusual thing; usually around the time they want to retire).
A standard company might consider an IPO to be their "exit."
Tech companies seem to have the company as the product. They have a plan to "exit," i.e. sell the company. That means they work on making the company, itself into an attractive package, and their product/service is simply a tool to maximize the company's attractiveness. In this case, descending into debt, in order to make the company look good in the short term, makes sense.
I could see this resulting in a situation, where the product made by the company is doing OK, but the company is not succeeding in being sold, so is considered a "failure."
I grew up in a world, where companies were supposed to be ongoing concerns, with no end in sight. You established a company, and worked towards achieving at least an equilibrium, if not growth. Most brick-and-mortar companies are like this. The focus is on the product/service provided by the company, and all efforts are devoted to maximizing efficiency and steady profitability. Plans are made with a long view, as the company needs to be around to support their product. I know a lot of folks that own/run standard companies. None of them want to sell the company (it does happen, but it's an unusual thing; usually around the time they want to retire).
A standard company might consider an IPO to be their "exit."
Tech companies seem to have the company as the product. They have a plan to "exit," i.e. sell the company. That means they work on making the company, itself into an attractive package, and their product/service is simply a tool to maximize the company's attractiveness. In this case, descending into debt, in order to make the company look good in the short term, makes sense.
I could see this resulting in a situation, where the product made by the company is doing OK, but the company is not succeeding in being sold, so is considered a "failure."