Owning lots of stuff is a burden. Really is.
For example, I have enough clean clothes to go two weeks without doing laundry; four pairs of shoes (trainers, formal shoes, safety boots, dancing shoes); six sets of plates and glasses (more than I've ever needed to use at once); cooking stuff like pots, pans, spoons, whisk, scales etc; a motorcycle; a set of motorcycle maintenance tools; three different coats (regular coat, motorcycle jacket for me, motorcycle jacket for passenger); kit for several different sports; desktop computer, personal laptop and work laptop; soldering iron; digital storage oscilloscope. All stuff I need to get stuff done, but certainly more than I could fit in a suitcase.
I don't want to be surrounded by clutter, but 'having a nice household environment', which involves the ownership of a fair amount of stuff, is high up on my list of things that make my life comfortable.
I don't know anybody beyond their 20s that lives with quite such an extreme ethos about this whole thing. And most of my friends are hackers in one way or another.
That said they're also mostly British and not part of startup culture.
Friend of mine was twenty-three when his parents insisted he buy a home in Sunnyvale since 'he could afford to'. We got to the point of describing the place as an 'albatross' repeatedly, since it cost him many interesting opportunities had he not been nailed into place. He's now very happily in Japan and free of the burden of home ownership.
I'm in my thirties and I've lived in quite a few places. Yet to live somewhere and say 'Yep, this is it. Nothing else to see, this is the best culture has to offer.' and then stay there. Minimalism simply works best to achieve mobility and it's not like you cannot find partners whom also feel the same way.
I find a lot of the hostility and stereotyping over this lifestyle I see here fascinating. Buyers remorse most likely.
I meant the startup world as a fashion or a fad which seems to attract people who are into all sorts of funny ideas. I don't associate startups with productivity, certainly not often useful productivity most of the time.