Worth noting that the executive get paid at least a comfortable base salary for as long as the cash-burning business keeps its doors open, and if hype creates a pop in the equity price their stock options can be worth a lot, even if the business doesn't turn out.

Regardless of whether MoviePass really had a chance at being profitable, or whether the people running it believed it could be profitable, there was money to be made in making it look viable and getting investors. That's a pretty important point that the author needs to understand before calling the execs "clueless."