Well, remember the audience. The hackers here don't really /need/ anything that a company provides (outside, maybe benefits): they can get the same equipment a

Well, remember the audience. The hackers here don't really /need/ anything that a company provides (outside, maybe benefits): they can get the same equipment and infrastructure for very little. This is also a start-up site. I think there's a (justified) bias here of looking at employment as an option against founding. Also, look at the financials of the situation. A software company can (easily) make $1 million/year/engineer, yet the engineer won't see more than a small fraction of that. The other parts of the business: marketing, sales, support, are primary topics on HN. On this site, a job is just a lower-risk alternative to doing a startup. For all the potential benefits of founding a successful startup, and even the small reputation bonus from founding a failing one, there's a lot that an employer has to offer to compensate.