Spolsky's companies are getting big, but this article was written a long time ago.
He worked for Microsoft, so he has some experience with a big company, and he has definitely spent a lot of time thinking and reading about big companies.
I think he wants to get the right number of employees but he'd rather have people genuinely interested in his companies than play the game. I think he also notices that some of the most promising candidates stop looking due to accepting one of these exploding offers, so he isn't able to conduct a thorough search.
He worked for Microsoft, so he has some experience with a big company, and he has definitely spent a lot of time thinking and reading about big companies.
I think he wants to get the right number of employees but he'd rather have people genuinely interested in his companies than play the game. I think he also notices that some of the most promising candidates stop looking due to accepting one of these exploding offers, so he isn't able to conduct a thorough search.