[coldtea]

>but this made it untenable for them.

I'd say "I've been here too long, let's shop around since IT is a buyers' market, and take advantage of this one-time buyout offer" is a far more probable explanation than "no political discussions at work rule makes this untenable for me"...

Without the buyout or in a worse job market, we'd see much closer to 0 "principled" exits...

[educaysean]

Difficult as it may be for you to fathom, not everyone is a mercenary driven by money and greed. Many people choose their work based on their values and beliefs. Especially a well known, tight knit company like Basecamp have leadership positions filled with people who live and breathe the product and its users.

Choosing to leave for greener pastures may be an easy decision if you're at an early stage of your career, but there's a reason these extraordinarily talented folks stayed with Basecamp for as long as they have. It's not because they just couldn't get Google to pay them more.

[coldtea]

>Difficult as it may be for you to fathom, not everyone is a mercenary driven by money and greed.

I'm absolutely sure of the above. Just not these people.