One assumes there is a tacit acknowledgement being made that the "product" here is not a 100% substitute for, I don't know, a 2350 SAT Stanford undergrad who has been programming since the age of 6. That may or may not be rational discounting.
On the plus side: someone who is both a) a productive engineer and b) not as abominably terrible at negotiating as the typical engineer will, two years out of this program, be able to lateral into an intermediate engineer position at their next company for a compensation package worth north of $150k.
(P.S. Folks who think purewater or I are grossly off the mark for current conditions in Silicon Valley may wish to take a few people on coffee dates. What you learn will buy an awful lot of lattes.)
It may already be too late. The folks snapping up these jobs have top-tier CS degrees, move to the valley, and most importantly have 2+ internships at major internet companies (Amazon, Google, FB, MS, etc.). You may be able to sidestep some of that if you publish some amazing products or OSS in the next 12 months.
On the plus side: someone who is both a) a productive engineer and b) not as abominably terrible at negotiating as the typical engineer will, two years out of this program, be able to lateral into an intermediate engineer position at their next company for a compensation package worth north of $150k.
(P.S. Folks who think purewater or I are grossly off the mark for current conditions in Silicon Valley may wish to take a few people on coffee dates. What you learn will buy an awful lot of lattes.)