after four years with the company it is probable that he had seen other people come and go and developed a sense of how the matter would be handled You'd have

after four years with the company it is probable that he had seen other people come and go and developed a sense of how the matter would be handled You'd have to know the company, but I can categorically say that this was not the issue. Finally, the fact that pension was viewed as a tool to retain a young go getter is probably a fundamental miscalculation for promising developers - young people attracted by pensions wind up in large organizations or government not in dynamic teams with a high beta. It wasn't the only benefit, but your point is well taken. People wanting to join a startup (and younger people in general) are not interested in long-term stability (unless of course it is their dream job) which this wasn't. But the question is not about why this particular person left, it's about whether good people leaving for startups should even consider the employer when deciding how to leave.