On the one hand, the largest tech companies are bigger than ever and still growing, and they set the market rates with a combination of high salaries and liquid

On the one hand, the largest tech companies are bigger than ever and still growing, and they set the market rates with a combination of high salaries and liquid stock. If you're incredible, you can go work there. On the other hand, there is more money floating toward more startups than ever, across every imaginable industry. They all need people. Taken together, demand is through the roof, and the massive companies are pulling salaries up as someone senior or higher could ostensibly get a job there vs. your random Series A-C startup. If you can't pay top dollar, you are in the zone described by the author. You need to offer whatever a particular candidate is after: respectable salary; a chance to own some massive new development area; a chance to go deep on a set of technologies; and/or a schedule that supports their lifestyle.