I'll resist speaking ad hominem and try to generalize here. I've found that founders that are married/have kids are much more concerned about HR policies that

I'll resist speaking ad hominem and try to generalize here. I've found that founders that are married/have kids are much more concerned about HR policies that protect an employee's family, while startups with younger/single founders usually don't put as much thought into it. I know from my own experience as a founder in my 20s and now in my 30s that this shift occurs. The issue with long term disability is that the startup can make a statement to its employees that it will provide for that individual as well as that individual's family--through maternity/paternity policies, vacation time, health and life insurance, and long term disability. Employees with dependents need this type of security and actively search out the companies that provide it. It's one of the reasons the startup community loses so many great engineers to larger companies, even though those engineers would prefer a startup. Not enough thought put into family security.