Investors aren't some mysterious and capricious force that storms into your office and throws a fit over random reasons. They care primarily about one thing: t

Investors aren't some mysterious and capricious force that storms into your office and throws a fit over random reasons. They care primarily about one thing: their Return on Investment. If the company becomes more profitable by shifting more comp to developers, then the investor will support that wholeheartedly. Tellingly, some of the most profitable companies right now are those paying their developers the best, e.g. FAANG. Suggesting that paying developers more is a good move, financially, for the employer. Anecdote: I was involved in the hiring process of a certain tech company. The entire company had "engineers are a scarce resource, use sparingly" as a key principle. There were many rules about how to apply that, and people regularly got yelled at by the CEO for violating said rules. Fast forward to a hiring spree. The company was hiring for a particular non-technical position, as well as for engineering. They tell me how much they're paying each position. Pay is the same. The non-technical position had about x20 candidates than open positions. The engineering position had roughly 25% less, before screening out unqualified candidates and those who didn't pass technical interviews. Same pay. Doesn't compute.