I have had a similar thought. The multiple of 3 seems to be a nice heuristic to track and tame complexity in many fields. Nature of any problem undergoes fundamental changes when the problem size is tripled and our solutions should be reviewed accordingly.<p>Here is what I mean. Say your startup has only one employee. You come up with certain processes to make it productive. However, when the team size goes to 3, 9, 27, it would be a good idea to review those processes and rules. Those seem like appropriate milestones to me for future planning. Not too short, nor too long.<p>Another example: Let's say I want to understand a topic like, say, Relativity. I think an effective approach would be to first read a one paragraph summary which barely describes the big picture of it. Once I've done that, I look for an article 3-times as long (say, a page). Next would be an essay which is about 3 pages. 9 pages, 27 pages and so on.<p>By not taking a big jump, (say a multiple of 10 or more), I make sure that I have a good foundation based on experience to be able to understand the next stage of complexity. And a jump less than a multiple of 3 would tend to be not the most productive.