[toexitthedonut]

>These are small companies not looking to scale

And this also separates what people call "startups" from small companies. All startups start out as small companies, but they don't comprise all small companies. They look and follow the value that will require them to grow.

I think, indeed, that a company must value engineering if they want to grow really big. If they don't, then engineering/tech is not made a priority.

[fredophile]

Even if you want to grow really big engineering isn't always a factor. Startups shouldn't be wasting resources worrying about scaling until they have a decent product. Early on quick iteration times are much more important. As long as things aren't so bad that the code base prevents changes fast and cheap are a reasonable approach for a brand new startup.