1 month, 2, 3 went by. I found guaranteed positions for them based solely on my recommendation for more pay then if we had money, the people still stayed.

They came in for work the same. Everything kept going. We eventually had a successful product, made money, and were able to backpay.

If I was a disorganized manager giving meaningless drudgery and absurd requirements divorced from product and purpose they would have all left.

There has to be a deeper mission, purpose, and vision that keeps people around and focused. That's the managements job.

People aren't generally in tech for the money, there's better money in real estate, sales and finance with less work. Drive the passion and you'll drive the work.

Programming is like movies, art, and music: great things rarely happen when people are just chasing dollars.