I think this is an important point, however it can be applied to many more roles than just founding a startup. When an engineer (of any type) can consider the

I think this is an important point, however it can be applied to many more roles than just founding a startup. When an engineer (of any type) can consider the how and why they are building, they learn to question some of the tasks they have been assigned, potentially resulting in a more efficient execution. If a programmer is told to build a search function into a website, and he builds that, great. If a programmer is told to build this, and he considers why, and realizes that certain things on the website aren't as clear as they could be, and decides to not only build a search function but also suggests certain usability and discoverability improvements to the website, then much better results will be had.