> And, to be clear, I’m not saying that one should or should not place money or perks above everything
Why not?
The whole premise of venture capitalism is that money is an appropriate common denominator for what is valuable in the world, that the best way to change the world is through establishing a legal entity whose goal is to make money, that once you have lots of money the best thing you can do is to put that money to further use instead of directly engaging your own technical skills.
Why do we tell potential employees at startups "money isn't everything" but potential founders "you'll make more money this way" and potential funders "please, sir, some money"?
The startup ecosystem is a way for venture capitalists to get richer, and to incentivize the people who can directly help them get richer. Evidently it's not enough - so maybe they should incentivize the people who help them indirectly get richer. If money isn't everything, don't join a startup or a big company, go to grad school, where you can actually work on whatever you want. Or go work for a big company for several years and retire, or find a half-time consulting gig, or something.
Why not?
The whole premise of venture capitalism is that money is an appropriate common denominator for what is valuable in the world, that the best way to change the world is through establishing a legal entity whose goal is to make money, that once you have lots of money the best thing you can do is to put that money to further use instead of directly engaging your own technical skills.
Why do we tell potential employees at startups "money isn't everything" but potential founders "you'll make more money this way" and potential funders "please, sir, some money"?
The startup ecosystem is a way for venture capitalists to get richer, and to incentivize the people who can directly help them get richer. Evidently it's not enough - so maybe they should incentivize the people who help them indirectly get richer. If money isn't everything, don't join a startup or a big company, go to grad school, where you can actually work on whatever you want. Or go work for a big company for several years and retire, or find a half-time consulting gig, or something.