[usrusr]

> I really wonder how much of this is a self-created problem

It's part of the overfunding game: you can't just take the money and go "yay, 300 years of runtime because we stay lean". Investment is meant to be spent. Burning it all purely on buying market would also be a little too transparent, investors want to believe that they are getting more than that and they need others to believe that as well should they ever desire for greater fools.

But once you add an army of well paid talent to the mix it gets much easier to claim that there's more to your growth than buying market. Even if all they do is cosplay unassailable technological lead.