Completely agree there are many other reasons people don't join large, established bureaucratic organizations. My career has involved building software within well-established industries, but not necessarily within the large bureaucracies themselves. There is plenty of room for nimble software companies in those industries, but little of it fits the venture-backed model because it'll likely never achieve a 100x return. That's the sort of thing that gets suffocated by an overemphasis on VC.

I think your point about "inspirational stories" hits at the heart of something important. I believe there are plenty of successful software companies working in niche industries and having great impact, but their stories don't get amplified nearly as much as venture-backed companies do, partially because raising VC is viewed as a stamp of success that makes it easier to get press coverage, hire talented people, etc.

If there's one thing that I think needs to change, it's that we need to tell more inspiring stories about people who've achieved success without needing to raise VC. That'll also reduce pressure on VC to be the one-stop-shop for everyone's business ideas.

(Also, hi Vinay! Not sure you remember me, but I used to hang out on the "codechill" Slack a couple years ago. Hope all's well.)