[sabbatic13]

It's not the large tech companies that poach employees from small startups, it's other startups. Small startups pose more of a threat to the large, established companies. Some tech giants successfully obtain people by dumping several money trucks on certain sorts of tech talent, precisely because it is so hard to keep them from starting or joining some small venture, which will provide them with autonomy, large impact, and a chance to become fabulously wealthy. The rather cartoonish notions of startup glory also appeal to many.

There's a reason that every company in tech is trying to b.s. people that they either are _really_ a startup (when they are not), or that they are _like_ a startup (yeah, right).