Having spent many years working in both government and the private sector, I don't see any great fundamental difference in competence. The only place I have ev

Having spent many years working in both government and the private sector, I don't see any great fundamental difference in competence. The only place I have ever worked with a much higher than normal level of competence was a hedge fund that made a point of only hiring intelligent people, and fired anyone who they didn't like very fast. As for motivation, I actually saw a lot more motivated people in government than I have elsewhere. Many really believed in their mission of public service. I don't see most private sector employees burning with the company mission statement. Maybe the VC tech scene is more like the hedge fund I worked at, but really, most private sector businesses are not like that at all.