The cynical answer, not necessarily because I believe it fully but because nobody seems to ever bring it up: Because the people working in companies are part o

The cynical answer, not necessarily because I believe it fully but because nobody seems to ever bring it up: Because the people working in companies are part of efforts that have actual an old-fashioned good or service attached. (Edit to add that this is often in a perversely indirect manner, though...) The vast majority of startups (in the Y Combinator sense), however, are focused exclusively on connecting (be it social networking or market-making) and not on making or doing. While there's plenty of value to be contributed this way, I'd say the potential there is inherently limited.