Relatedly: People who have the skill set to found new EA orgs well, plus the ability and willingness to accept AIM-level pay, are not in unlimited supply. There’s a significant opportunity cost to putting the hypothetical WAW-startup founder in a WAW startup vs. (e.g.) an AIM startup. Conditioned on them being skilled enough to do well in a serious WAW funding downturn, they probably would have been top-tier talent elsewhere.
Relatedly: People who have the skill set to found new EA orgs well, plus the ability and willingness to accept AIM-level pay, are not in unlimited supply. There’s a significant opportunity cost to putting the hypothetical WAW-startup founder in a WAW startup vs. (e.g.) an AIM startup. Conditioned on them being skilled enough to do well in a serious WAW funding downturn, they probably would have been top-tier talent elsewhere.