The author is chasing 'name brand' employees. His premise is essentially that, by circular reasoning, all the good engineers are at big companies, and, since G

The author is chasing 'name brand' employees. His premise is essentially that, by circular reasoning, all the good engineers are at big companies, and, since Google and Facebook are paying too much, you are better off poaching from a "downmarket" brand, like Microsoft and Amazon, instead of actually being invested in your hiring process. Or, heaven forbid, fostering development of your existing employees.