VC’s, hedge funds, etc. all run lean—none have 10k+ employees or anything close. Employees are under a much brighter spotlight by the owners all the time. Groups might lose focus for an interval but once they their score is down it’s goodbye & the score is P&L calculated in very short intervals.

> VC’s, hedge funds, etc. all run lean—none have 10k+ employees or anything close

This describes none of the multi-fund behemoths, e.g. Andreessen, Sequoia, et cetera. They have an entire caste of VC associates whose productivity is measured by the number of meetings they take; they're literally professional time wasters.

Not 10k+, but a lot of leading hedge funds, especially tech focused ones, have 2-3k employees with a similar to lower revenue/employee to big tech. Doesn't seem to me that they run much leaner.