I’d add that I think there’s something to be said in favor of a needs-based model in the early stages of a startup. For as long as you’re heavily funding-constrained, it allows you to hire a greater number of people at a given cost. (This is essentially first-degree price discrimination; maximizing producer’s surplus (≈ altruistic utility) can IMO be a good idea under some circumstances.) One could argue that even then, promising EA startups should (and will) be paid better, but I’m not sure this always works out in practice.
I’d add that I think there’s something to be said in favor of a needs-based model in the early stages of a startup. For as long as you’re heavily funding-constrained, it allows you to hire a greater number of people at a given cost. (This is essentially first-degree price discrimination; maximizing producer’s surplus (≈ altruistic utility) can IMO be a good idea under some circumstances.) One could argue that even then, promising EA startups should (and will) be paid better, but I’m not sure this always works out in practice.
Other than that, I agree.