Core-JS chief complains open source is broken, no one will pay for it

Getting open-source contributors paid is a real issue, though his particular case has a few unique wrinkles. Seems to me it's very rare for individual maintainers to be able to make a living solely from their open-source work. Given the permissive nature of the licenses at work, that seems to be by design, though I'm encouraged by the rise of open-core projects that seem to be trying to find a middle ground.

Yes, releasing something for free means you won't get paid for it.

There are also enough people willing to do it for free for it to continue. Don't release open source software if your primary goal is to make money.

If his goal was to make money, why didn't he release under a free "up to X company size" license? Either your software is worth paying for, or it isn't. I don't understand how this is difficult to understand for so many people.