Theory: The "Dot Com Boom" of the 90s dramatically changed corporate culture, and not for the better [1/2]
Modern businesses are run primarily under the premise that you must spend money to make money.
By that logic, the more money you have, the more money you can make, and the more money a business makes, the more successful it's considered to be.
"Dot Com Boom" Corp Culture Theory [2/2]
Therefore it's in a business' best interest to take on so much debt it nearly sinks them, use it to hire salespeople who then pressure the rest of the company to cut corners to make deadlines faster before the entire thing collapses under the mountain of debt they've taken on.
And people wonder why our product quality is constantly getting worse...
I haven't seen a (100+ person) company that's not run this way since the 90s... 
"Dot Com Boom" Corp Culture Theory [2/2]
@mawr Reminder that interest payments on debt are also tax deductible. Those same business classes I had in college gave entire lectures about how to structure debt in a company to get the highest return, and the numbers were typically in the range of 50-75%.
One of the key formulas: Assets = Liabilities + Shareholder's Equity. Guess which parts typically gets jacked way up at the start of early VC funding.
"Dot Com Boom" Corp Culture Theory [2/2]
@mawr And yes, quite a few VCs do try to use this whole game as their own personal tax shelter or money laundering vehicle on top of that.