People take smaller salaries all the time if their work is for the public good. Quite many charity organizations find lots of people to man them. Universities a

People take smaller salaries all the time if their work is for the public good. Quite many charity organizations find lots of people to man them. Universities are another example. Some people go into the industry, others become researchers. Instead of paying 10 people 100k annually, I'd rather pay 20 people 50k. That's enough to live a comfortable life in most places, including most places in US. Would it give you the people who are in tech only for the money? Probably not. Maybe you don't really want them in the first place, because even though they might be smart and work well, maybe they aren't the "best" people for the job, as they don't optimize by what's best for their users but by what's best for them.