Ask HN: What are the most valuable companies with the lowest headcounts?

WhatsApp famously had just three dozen engineers managing their massive service when they sold to FB. I remember listening to an interview of one of the early employees who credited a big part of their success to BEAM

Looking at games, Minecraft (before being sold) and Terraria would be up there.

WhatsApp is probably the best example from recent history.

You also have private companies like You Need A Budget (YNAB) which are highly successful, but fairly static and not targeting hyper growth.

Basecamp, about 60 people

https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/30/basecamp-employees-quit-ce...

Tether have 22 employees and "support" assets worth $68 billion.

Rentech?

Not an answer, but I've never grown fond of the word "headcount".