What this is getting at is that start-up world is run on 'winner takes all economics' (look it up). Companies that win rarely have products and marketing that

What this is getting at is that start-up world is run on 'winner takes all economics' (look it up). Companies that win rarely have products and marketing that are 1000x better than those that fail. But the difference in the payouts can easily be in that range. Incidentally this is why it is worth it for people in a startup environment to work seemingly crazy hours. The founders and equity owning employees of the winning team are getting an incredibly high payout for being slightly better, or slightly more lucky. We as a society accept this trade-off as being a necessity for innovation and overall economic growth. In short: If the chef on the winning pirate ship doesn't deserve his share of the loot then neither does the captain.