[cramaswamy]

I disagree with the generalist comment. Startups have limited $$ in the bank and want a specialist who can hit the road running. However, startups also want someone who is willing to take on additional roles and help out in the overall growth of the company.

[alex_lod]

Let's take the following hypothetic example, which by the way isn't so hypothetical:

Your company decides it wants to build its business on mobile phones. You go out and hire the best iOS developer you can find, and she builds the app. Then, once you have a few thousand users, you realize that actually this app should be a website. You pivot the company to become a website before an iOS app. Now you have an expert iOS developer and nothing for them to work on. You'd be in a better position to have a super awesome programmer who can (and has interest to) learn new things.

The above example happens all the time. The earlier a company is, the more likely they'll make big pivots.

[cramaswamy]

Alex - I agree with the above example, but my definition of a generalist is someone who knows a little bit of everything - engineering, sales, marketing etc. An awesome programmer is still a deep expertise in my opinion. But I get your point.