How can there be any “real-life” examples of failure for this reason unless you first determine what the optimal growth rate of the company should have been? If you can’t answer this question then any discussion about the reason for failure is a “just-so” story made up after the fact.
The more important question to answer is how can you work out what the optimal growth rate should be of any startup.
The more important question to answer is how can you work out what the optimal growth rate should be of any startup.