When I started in tech in 2009, joining a startup meant taking a huge pay cut. You did it for the mission, the growth, the bet on yourself (and maybe because the best-paid jobs in finance or big tech weren't hiring in the recession). Startups were for the scrappy and idealistic.

Fast forward to 2025: Large tech companies are offering hundred million dollar packages to AI researchers. This isn’t just a market shift. It’s a seismic rewiring of what talent optimization looks like in tech.

Foundational AI labs have become the new "Google" of prestige. But they’re also the new Wall Street: elite, flush with cash, and highly competitive.

There’s a growing mercenary culture in AI. Not because people don’t care about mission. But because the infrastructure (comp, GPU access, elite peers) to do good work is becoming concentrated in just a few companies.

For early-stage startups, this creates a paradox: You can’t offer the tools or the salary of large tech companies. So your only edge is: → mission clarity → speed → trust → ownership And increasingly, that may not be enough.

Founders today are competing not just on product, but on narrative. You have to articulate why the best people in the world should join you—not because they need a job, but because they could do anything... and this is the most meaningful version of “anything.”

This is one of the biggest challenges in early-stage hiring right now. It’s not just a comp war—it’s a war for attention, conviction, and belief. The mercenary shift is real. But mission-driven builders still exist. You just have to make the mission undeniable.