Startups need an exit strategy.
Employees want to work 5-10 years max and end up with millions to retire peacefully while working in an intense environment which serves as the story of their accomplishment for the lifetime.
Then they plan to follow their other life goals like going on a world tour with the family or watch their kids growing up or creating their own small lifestyle business. It can be anything.
The key realization is that most employees do not want to work for you just because they have found themselves in such place.
When I was new in the industry, I put a lot of blood/sweat into building a company. Today, I can't force myself to put the same amount of efforts even if I want to.
The idea is to raise money fast, hire experienced people for ancillary services and develop the application in a way so that it is able to hold up till IPO. Defer all costs (application maintenance, vendor lockins, IP infringement risks) for post IPO. Create the Hype around the product which gets you eyeballs, subscriptions, MAU and other metrics which translates into the valuation. Once you've caught market attention, the solution can always get more love post IPO.
The market pressure to produce returns post IPO results in the broad application of the company's IP, resources, and talent. This might spin up new industries.
Once the employees have cashed their equity, it's up to them to stay (if they are enjoying the position) or leave (if they've other life goals).
A lifestyle business, won't be able to achieve this for each of their employees. Even very few startups achieve this for most of their employees.