It is not just startups, no wonder the age old wisdom is always-be-leaving if you want to get a raise/promotion. I think the rational is more like paying as li

It is not just startups, no wonder the age old wisdom is always-be-leaving if you want to get a raise/promotion. I think the rational is more like paying as little as possible for keeping smart people around who could outperform their title. Switching jobs has a very real cost for employees, especially in harder economic times. Some will leave nonetheless, some will quite quit but some will stick around just fine.