In the software industry a small number of workers can produce an immense IIR.  Three people wrote the iMac operating system and (literally) saved Apple from bankruptcy.  Now the company has something like $100 billion in cash.  No way three automotive engineers could duplicate that 15 year trajectory.

How this happens is complicated.  The quickest example is it comes down to duplication cost of the end-user product or service and the total potential market for the good or service.  Duplicating a piece of software costs around $20 (total) and has a total potential market of hundreds of millions.  Duplicating a car costs thousands of dollars and has a total potential market of several million.  

A further complication is a software company doesn't need all that many people to write a successful program.  In fact, too many people are a hindrance to a successful productization cycle.  

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre