There's something to say here about getting the paid opportunity to spend several years thinking deeply about a problem without distraction. You'll make more mo

There's something to say here about getting the paid opportunity to spend several years thinking deeply about a problem without distraction. You'll make more money working at a startup or big tech churning out features each sprint, but usually you'd be very lucky to get a day or two to explore tangential ideas before the next project deadline in comparison. Some people aren't optimizing for money so it's not best to compare on those terms.