[beachstartup]

our latest hire is a very good senior engineer who was essentially working as a sales/marketing technical resource at his previous job, and was on a career track to become a vp of sales and marketing. he had "director of X" titles before that at large orgs as well. age early 40's.

when he quit and came to work for us, the first thing he said was "i want to make it crystal clear that i do not want to be an executive at your company. i want to be a senior engineer. i want to stay at home with my family and take care of your technical needs."

when you are clear with your requirements, and you get clear requirements from the employer, good situations can arise.

having said all that, he didn't need the extra money that comes with being an executive - he's doing just fine - some people do need the money, however. it's just a question of personal priorities.