Not to sound flip, but does Stripe need to be building the best engineering team in the Valley? From an outsider's perspective it does not seem like are trying to solve that difficult a problem--marry Internet technology with credit card payment technology. In effect, they are just building glue, not anything new. However, let's assume they are building very good glue. That still begs the question can one attract the best to build the best team when the tasks at hand might not attract the most talented? The answer to that question, I'd like to know. My own company works on what I think are challenging engineering problems, but perhaps not as challenging or impactful as what Google, Prismatic, Factual, or SexyStartUpX are working on (just to name a few).

So my question is how do you attract talent and build great teams when you're not the prettiest girl at the dance?