What an interesting dichotomy you have painted: internet platform versus politicking corporate office.  This is exactly the kind of myopia I was referring to where a software engineer thinks everything that is not tech is bullshit.  In fact there is a huge range of ways to succeed in business, and while all are helped by efficient technology to varying degrees, technology is not the primary driver of value most of the time.  You can bet your career that Uber leadership is spending every waking minute figuring out how to gain structural advantages to solidify their position—the tech is easily replicable and becomes more so every day.<p>In any case though, you seem to be putting some words in my mouth since I never said anything about Uber&#x27;s valuation of its engineering.  My point was much more universal than that and had absolutely nothing to do with the corporate world or anything else.  Employers pay their employees what they feel they have to.  Uber pays them more because they need the best and the market is very competitive, but there is absolutely no link to the bottom line.