If you own the business, why would any rational market participant buy your product or service without expecting it to create more value for them than they paid

If you own the business, why would any rational market participant buy your product or service without expecting it to create more value for them than they paid? Same thing, really. The issue posed by the original post was that great programmers are not paid proportionally to their output, not whether their employer makes a spread on them. You're correct though that the closer you get to the money the more value you'll capture. You also take more risk. How many startups have folded where junior engineers made $100k/yr and investors and founders left the endeavor with nothing or a net loss? Depending on your life situation, being more risk-averse and taking the guaranteed paycheck isn't such a bad thing.