Deliberately flying loose with procurement to move fast in the "low top-line, low OPEX impact" sense is not the same thing. That can still be deliberate, and have careful oversight. What I'm talking about is the inability to operate any other way, so much so that your best option when things get tough is the nuclear one. My thinking on this is simple: If an organization finds itself in a position where dropping a nuke on itself is actually a reasonable option, they have done something very wrong to get there.
Such nuclear options should certainly not be handed out as blanket advice or "something to consider". They should be spoken of in tones such as "If you've really screwed things up bad, then here's what you do....".
I've worked somewhere that such such tactics were common place. Sometimes they were the only way forward (and yes, that meant we had much, much bigger problems). Sometimes they weren't necessary, an over reaction, and the chaos & destruction took years to recover from. In one case we lost roughly $10,000,000 over about 5 years in order to save about 1/10th of that.
In a start-up there are nearly infinite problems to solve and one of the most important skills is to figure out the sequencing.
So, you figure out what to sell, you figure out how to sell it, then you figure out how to build it.
After you can do that a bunch, then you fiddle with the knobs and controls to grow the business.
Early on, the top priority isn’t accounting because it doesn’t apply any leverage. It’s basically a downside risk problem and you do what you need to do and focus the rest of your resources on product, eng, and growth.
Such nuclear options should certainly not be handed out as blanket advice or "something to consider". They should be spoken of in tones such as "If you've really screwed things up bad, then here's what you do....".
I've worked somewhere that such such tactics were common place. Sometimes they were the only way forward (and yes, that meant we had much, much bigger problems). Sometimes they weren't necessary, an over reaction, and the chaos & destruction took years to recover from. In one case we lost roughly $10,000,000 over about 5 years in order to save about 1/10th of that.