[cglee]

I doubt you could get top notch engineers in Beijing for 10-15k without giving up equity. I think if you go work for Microsoft in Beijing, you can make 40-50k. It's really not that astounding - have you seen real estate prices in Beijing?

[megaduck]

I think you just proved my point. While Beijing definitely has advantages, there are other places in China where you can do business for a heck of a lot cheaper. An order of magnitude cheaper.

Even in Beijing, you don't have to get a massively expensive office in Wudaokou or the CBD. I'll also guarantee that you can get pretty good Tsinghua and Beida graduates for 15k, although I'll concede that finding talent is one of the top challenges in China.

Microsoft China spends money like it's going out of style. They're not really a good baseline, although they are a magnet for talent because of the big brand name and outsized salaries. You can get in bidding wars with them if you wish, but it's not strictly necessary.

Bottom line is that the only reason to spend that kind of money is to impress the hell out of people. However, that kind of impressiveness is necessary, which is why you almost certainly need such a large investment.