Employee Ownership Drives Efficiency: High-growth companies need "drivers", not "passengers"

The article argues that overfunded software companies suffered from a lack of financial ownership among leaders, prioritizing revenue growth over efficiency and profitability. It prescribes five mechanisms for enabling broader employee ownership of departmental financials: accurate financial reporting, finance knowledge, forecasting partnerships, vendor contract management, and zero-based budgeting. The author contends that top-down cost cuts fail because they indiscriminately harm efficient departments while bloated ones persist, and that real efficiency gains emerge when leaders and employees act as financial owners.