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How much do they pay? Why is it war for talent rather than auction for talent? If someone wants to offer their developers $1 million/yr, I doubt they will have trouble finding talent. They will probably get some free PR too. The whole business of model of many tech companies is based upon manipulating developers into working super-cheap. Due to their personalities, developers are often pretty easy to manipulate.

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My experience has always been that in fact it's an auction. Top engineers will always have multiple offers and if you really want them you'll have to pay. Of course, we all have limits based on our startup stage and funding and what's the return that developer brings to your company.

However, many times is not about the money but about the environment and challenges you can provide to smart people that makes a company more attractive vs higher salary.

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