I taught myself to code in high school, and I like what I work on (robotics); it used to be a weekend hobby in college before it became my real job. I also like Michelin star dinners, travelling, live music, skiing, etc.
Expecting people in our industry to prefer "company, product, real building, craftsmanship" over getting paid is how we end up getting paid like nonprofit employees, EMTs, and other professions where people's desire to do good is exploited to drive down salaries.
Would you rather use a product that somebody treats as a vehicle to "Michelin star dinners, travelling, live music, skiing, etc.", or a product that somebody deeply cares about more than those things?
My point is not "care 100% about your job/company/product/idea and 0% about everything else", but rather striking a better balance.
To bring it back to the OP, selling Figma to Adobe was, in my view, part of an epidemic of SaaS companies valuing payout above creating a long-term sustaining business.
I taught myself to code in high school, and I like what I work on (robotics); it used to be a weekend hobby in college before it became my real job. I also like Michelin star dinners, travelling, live music, skiing, etc.
Expecting people in our industry to prefer "company, product, real building, craftsmanship" over getting paid is how we end up getting paid like nonprofit employees, EMTs, and other professions where people's desire to do good is exploited to drive down salaries.