[Kalium]

> how does one go about and build a profitable and steady company with good talent without getting yanked into this cycle?

One approach might be to build a business by cleverly leveraging the value of competitively paid software engineers. You can accomplish quite a lot through focused effort. You shouldn't need fifty ICs to develop a profitable product.

Paying professionals doesn't have to come from absurdly oversized VC rounds. Sometimes it comes from steady, profitable, sustainable growth.

> *Note, I am perfectly on board with paying competitive salaries, my point is that given the heavy market distortion because of all the VC money, that "competitive salary" isn't actually an accurate descriptor.

You're right. It isn't. We should ignore the VC funded companies, and talk instead about the big players: FAANGs. That is the new definition of a competitive salary. I suspect you'll find it dwarfs that of many VC-fuelled startups.