what’s stopping random people from just going after the bounties themselves?
Simple answer—they don’t know the bounties exist. Bounties are usually only posted in local EA groups, and if you’re outside of those groups, even if you’re looking for bounties to collect, the amount of effort it would take to find out about our community’s bounty postings would be prohibitively high (and there’s plenty of lower-hanging fruit in search space). Likewise, many large companies hire recruiters to expressly go out and find talent, rather than hoping that talent finds them. The market is efficient, but it is not omniscient.
Simple answer—they don’t know the bounties exist. Bounties are usually only posted in local EA groups, and if you’re outside of those groups, even if you’re looking for bounties to collect, the amount of effort it would take to find out about our community’s bounty postings would be prohibitively high (and there’s plenty of lower-hanging fruit in search space). Likewise, many large companies hire recruiters to expressly go out and find talent, rather than hoping that talent finds them. The market is efficient, but it is not omniscient.