[csallen]

The reality of the situation is that it's not about what you do, but about how hard it is to find someone else to do what you do.

If it's easy to find programmers who will work for below-market rates, but hard to find investors who will contribute millions of dollars, then you can expect programmers to have much less negotiating power.

[regulation_d]

Exactly. In my experience it's hard enough to find investors, try insisting that they have the same liquidation preference as the employees. Good luck with that.

[vkou]

Do you mean to say that investors aren't deeply passionate and dedicated to changing the world in a revolutionary new way?

[user5994461]

Correction. It's easy to find inexperienced programmers.

[regulation_d]

It's easier to find experience programmers who don't really care about liquidation preference than it is to find investors who don't really care about liquidation preference.