Tech workers think Silicon Valley and startups are losing their luster
A huge problem in my opinion, is employee equity and compensation. No doubt, VCs are risking their money. But when you look at the system taking a few steps back, you see tons of VCs have made insane mounts of money in the last decade. Enough to buy castles, sports teams, and their own private islands.<p>Then you look at the swaths of tech workers who were there at the early stage. I&#x27;ve seen multiple large exits in startups. Places I&#x27;ve worked at or have had close friends. People who were there at the seed stage with barely a MVP, who built products, pulled all-nighters, and worked 7 days a week. Upon acquisition, the VCs made 10s of millions, the founders made 10s of millions and the employees got new car money (for 2 years of intense work getting paid <i>well</i> below market).<p>EDIT: Another interesting point that is a bit too off-topic and lengthy for this comment is that most startups simply don&#x27;t realize the value of (5+)x engineers. I&#x27;ve worked with people that are astronomically more efficient than entry or mid-level engineers who make 100-130K, yet they make around the same amount. Its <i>very</i> worth it to find these people and pay them 2-3x market and retain them. I&#x27;m not talking about algorithms wizards (although these people tend to be decent algorists too), I&#x27;m speaking of engineers who can work on all levels of the stack and ship code that is simple and works. They understand business needs and don&#x27;t get caught up in self-gratifying projects. They use a mix of new and old tools, selecting them for reliability and efficiency.