I agree that the internal costs are a factor, but I also agree with the original point. I'll share an anecdote of the CEO of my company.
We're a 2-year-old startup that hasn't reached profitability yet. We asked when that might happen, and he said we actually don't want to do that. We asked why, and he said that as soon as we start making a profit our investors will immediately start focusing on it. They will ask why we're not leveraging our profit to the maximum, what can we do to grow revenue? Whereas as long as we're losing money we can continue to experiment.
Oh man, I am glad I don't have any VC-style investors. I've a 2 year old startup and can actually talk to my investors about why we want to experiment.
We're a 2-year-old startup that hasn't reached profitability yet. We asked when that might happen, and he said we actually don't want to do that. We asked why, and he said that as soon as we start making a profit our investors will immediately start focusing on it. They will ask why we're not leveraging our profit to the maximum, what can we do to grow revenue? Whereas as long as we're losing money we can continue to experiment.