The good big companies are overstaffed by 2x.
Don't know if he actually said it as the linked page gives a 403 error.
However, simplistic platitudes, even if they potentially have a kernel of truth, are of no real help. Why do these companies have twice the staff they "need"? What is it they're doing that is "unnecessary"? Google has whole swathes of people doing stuff that's never significantly going to affect their top line (i.e. unnecessary) and they encourage them to take time out from the unnecessary stuff they're supposed to be working on to work on stuff that's even more unnecessary. Unless you have a magic solution to identifying the potential value a priori, there's not much point complaining about it.
It's rather like that old nostrum about advertising spend - half of it is wasted, but noone can figure out which half. I suspect a similar rule of thumb applies to speculative enterprise in general. I'm sure Andreessen can afford it, however much he might complain.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
