Most of the holier-than-thou devs I've met, and I've met a few, are weaker developers. Anybody who has built something with a business-facing constraint knows

Most of the holier-than-thou devs I've met, and I've met a few, are weaker developers. Anybody who has built something with a business-facing constraint knows how valuable the right kind of bizdev/hustler/whatever guy can be. Invaluable. In fact, I'd say these people are rarer than competent devs, but their skills are applicable in fewer arenas and are in lower demand overall. And these people don't always fit in well within a traditional corporate environment, but they can sometimes will a startup with a merely decent concept to success on the back of their hustling. Again, the traits that define such a person are hard to define and not nearly as marketable as somebody with, say, a solid Ruby background, a fact that produces a small group of devs who, frankly, overestimate their worth to a startup, although they're eminently employable at large, lame companies. There's no room for mediocre engineers at a startup focused on building well and building fast.