Large companies stick around because they've solved the one problem all startups have - finding and keeping customers and turning them into revenue through sales and product pipelines.

Code is pretty much a footnote to that process. It's exactly one of very many tools a business can use.

It's true that technical debt can cause business problems. But it doesn't cause nearly as many problems as having an ineffective sales team, getting killed by regulation, or being eaten alive by a competitor.

Right. For every startup that skips process and gets lucky there is a pile that rolled snake eyes and died.

Big companies aren't taking the chance.

> 99% of startups die

And no one bothers suing into the ground a muppet with two packs of ramen to their name ...