Sodas are a correlating effect, not a causation effect. Steve says "The sodas were just the wake-up call." (his emphasis). The problem is not that the sodas a

Sodas are a correlating effect, not a causation effect. Steve says "The sodas were just the wake-up call." (his emphasis). The problem is not that the sodas are no longer free, the problem is that the company starts treating its "most valuable asset - its employees" as just another cog in the machine. As such, the company has started to transition from being exceptional to being average, and its exceptional employees leave to find another company which is exceptional, completing the transition.