I don’t think this bears out in a place like seattle for everyone. I’ve been here since 2014 when home prices were much more affordable. I also made a substantial amount on my FAANG+ and adjacent work such I own my house and am debt free and have plenty of savings. I’m not alone. That’s a common story. And, after I wrap what I’m working on now, I’m starting my own thing. But I don’t plan to take VC, I’ve got my own capital now. Especially as FAANG loses its luster I think you’ll see people who did well and aren’t interested in retirement doing their own self financed things. A fair amount of my personal orbit have already done that. They’re actual real engineers that build stuff reliably that’s commercial. Their startups tend to do pretty well. But they’re not flashy valley kids - so maybe they don’t register for most people.

Yes it’s not a story for everyone. But an awful lot of the seattle scene has had a really good run and every one of the FAANG have a second largest if not largest presence here and Microsoft has been churning out wealthy alum for decades, and an awful lot are tired of the megacorp bullshit.