This is a really interesting observation and something I think doesn't factor into most people's calculus of company culture and execution.

I worked an early employee at a YC startup that was developing a hardware device and I think really ran into similar issues.

There were significant delays with shipping the device which meant that all the teams which had been built up to support its launch had _nothing_ to do for months. People in a "Customer Success" department with no customers. Developer evangelists with nothing to evangelize. Support departments twiddling their thumbs and the worst was the sales and marketing groups which devolved into a Lord of the Flies type environment where they tried latching onto any and every project they could just to justify their existence.

Timing really is everything.