Because your employer is focused on growth

The company you work for could be a sustainable, profitable business.

The CEO, however, is focused on growth.

Sustainability doesn’t matter. Profitability doesn’t matter. What matters is scale.

So the company goes on hiring ever more people. You hear the CEO boasting: “We have 50 people now.” Then, a couple of years later: “We have 200 people now.” Then, a couple of years later: “We have 500 people now.”

And the company goes on taking on ever more investment to pay for all those people. You hear the CEO boasting: “We just closed a $2m seed round.” Then, a couple of years later: “We just closed a $5m Series A.” Then, a couple of years later: “We just closed a $20m Series B.”

The bigger the numbers, the bigger the CEO’s feelings of power and prestige.

Until one day, the investors run out of patience with a business that looks like it’ll never be sustainable and never be profitable, and the company collapses.