And yet, it does. > either because the 10x 300k total comp developers you found aren't actually 10x That's a possibility. Honestly I've seen both approaches (

And yet, it does. > either because the 10x 300k total comp developers you found aren't actually 10x That's a possibility. Honestly I've seen both approaches (going with prevailing wages, CoL or whatever metric) vs just matching what's happening in the Valley no matter where and the caliber of resumes you get with the second option is simply on an other level. > or that they're so in demand that finding/recruiting them is expensive enough that it massively increases the cost The trick is to adopt a different mindset. You have to understand that these guys are never on the market. They'll get offers and interviews long before they publicly announce they are looking for a new job. Google has second year interns coming-in that won't work anywhere else but Mountain View for the next 7 years because they'll get an offer long before graduation. It's all about finding a pipeline with a high signal to noise ratio and investing in it.