I think an example about a failed dead startup is most informative about startups in general.

What's that? Surely if a prophecy were a useful filtering mechanism as you say, then dying is a problem. A cult which fails cannot serve anyone's purpose at all...

I'd be better served by picking a reputable book about cults at random, anyway (cherry picking vs unfiltered data).

Fair enough, but shouldn't you then retract your previous claims? I mean, what with it being based on cherry picked evidence and all?

Furthermore, sunk cost fallacy - like failure mode seems massively relevant to retention in cults.

You should probably know that I consider it seriously questionable whether sunk costs affect individuals at all, then, and reject the premise of that argument, much less whether it applies to cults.

Your typical cult is something fairly small, a congregation around one or a few literally insane persons which are indulging in short sighted self gratification such as convincing oneself that god speaks to them, or at times, around a person initially out for easy money (e.g. Keith Raniere).

The median cult may be small, but the median cult quickly dies. Why does this matter? If you were to apply your argument that cults are not intended to grow to, say, businesses, wouldn't it look completely ridiculous?

'Very few corporations are as successful as Microsoft. Your typical corporation is something fairly small, a group of one or two literally insanely optimistic entrepreneurs who are indulging in short-sighted egotistic expenditures such as the delusional belief that what the market needs is another Facebook clone, or at times, around a successful marketer out for easy money (e.g. Peter Pham). Said people need a certain number of close employees. Businesses are not intended to be successful or grow and make money, just keep loyal employees for the founder's gratification. The danger, likewise, is not in the successes but in failure modes that infrequently include mass murder like the Bhopal incident, and much more frequently include e.g. sexual abuse of minors, consequences to the customer's health, and so on.'

As I already said, cults die at such high rates that your theory is impossible because it presupposes utterly self-defeating behavior and is inconsistent with the behavior of successful cults.