[vain_cain]

I'm in my mid 20s and have been working for a small 5-person company since I started developing professionally 4 years ago. I know through my peers and offers I received that I could get at least twice as much compensation if I switch companies, and it doesn't bother me one bit.

At my current company I'm in touch with everything. From setting up servers, developing on every part of the stack, deploying and maintaining applications to working with clients on understanding their needs and business processes and then working out a solution for them. I get to argue about estimates and negotiate. I got to understand how manufacturing, sales, shipping, accounting, calculating employee payrolls and second incomes works. And as a bonus the people I work with are some of the best people I've ever met.

The amount of experience I'm getting here is definitely worth getting payed less.

[Clubber]

I did something very similar at the start of my career. I stayed 2 years. The experience was invaluable. I got poached from the husband of one of our managers, oddly enough. The job I went to paid nearly double and still is one of the highlights, "big boys you've heard of" on my resume.

You definitely see the big picture when you're an internal part of most of it.