I will passionately bust my ass for 12 hour days if I'm paid properly.
My biggest flaw is I'm not a 501 programmer and I will accidentally choose an opportunity that lights my passion but doesn't pay my bills. I've done that in the past and to be clear it was very painful and soul crushing and something I do not want to repeat again in my life.
I know more than most people that more money will not make you happy.. I've been in tech for 30 years and I've had all sorts of levels of compensation, failures and successes. Always the differentiators have been: The people I work with, the passion I feel for the problems we are trying to solve and the acknowledgment I get for my contribution.
Money is just a version of acknowledgement but clearly not the most soul fulfilling type. The respect of my peers and the opportunity to learn and work on solving big problems are much more rewarding. But to do all those things I need to pay my bills and put some away for my later years when I wont have the same earning power.
Income Equality at work.
To be fair, you do seem like a talented person and I'm sure you are excelling at your current and past positions, but maybe you just aren't a good fit for Valve since they don't need more SVP level decision makers.
It's less about greed and more about not being taken advantage of while someone else gets rich off of your back.
Like anything, there's a reasonable-middle as to the salary requirements for an individual.
Startups are exciting and fun, but their success is gauged by a single metric - money. When startups get acquired there are endless congratulations on this very site. And rightly so, the owners should be rewarded for their work.
In the end I guess you're right. I don't belong at a startup as an employee making 1/2 my salary. I either need adequate pay and/or an equity stake to work at one.