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Thanks for chiming in. How do you keep their motivation going especially for a talented developer? Don't they just want to leave a small startup and want to work for biggies out there?

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Well, right now, my whole company (plus wives and girlfriends) and I are on our way to burning man.

We also live in Aspen, and my lead programer is a huge skier, so it is a unique and fun opportunity for him to ski and live in Aspen.

Also, I pay them competitively and give them a profit share.

We have a lot of fun and have a lot of fun at work trying to grow the business too, because it's good for everyone.

The profit sharing is what would hook me and, I'm sure, plenty of other entrepreneur-minded programmers. That's something you can do at a small company that a big company won't do. It also gives employees a since of ownership, and aligns their incentives with the company's. I believe Wufoo did something similar with great success.

Right, anything else in such a people-dependent industry is capitalist bullshit. The company consists of the people in it, they deserve a direct share in the profits.

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