I believe software engineering wages will continue to rise over time, and will eventually reflect the true value the industry produces.
In fact, the way you phrased it, being a quant sounds really fun :) you don't want to play multi-million dollar poker?
I mean, sure, meaning and existentialism and all that, but I bet it's at least somewhat exciting.
Valuations of companies are only important to investors because of the inherent gambling. If you purchase capital at a single valuation that never rises or falls, what's the point? Even an index fund pursues gradual increases over time.
...Or am I building a strawman here? Is this not where you were going?
"What does it do?"
"It revolutionizes the way you share pictures of your cats!"
...Yeah. Playing multi-million dollar poker on Wall Street sounds a lot sexier than the shiny startup veneer put on another photo sharing app.