At what point do you discount your skills so much that you can't afford to save for kid's education, retirements savings, etc, though.
In looking at those GitLab pay scales, it's a pretty SEVERE pay cut for all but the most junior people. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with a 50% pay cut to do "something cool".
From Wikipedia: The U.S. Census Bureau reported in September 2016 that real median household income was $55,775 in 2015.
If you scroll down to education and look at the chart for education, you will see that the median household income for someone with a bachelor's degree is $68,728. With a professional degree (like a P.Eng) it's up to $100K.
Can you afford to save for your kid's education, retirement savings, etc on the median household income in the US? That depends a lot on your lifestyle. It certainly is possible.
I'm not going to tell you what's good for you. I'm just saying that there are people (myself included) who can live comfortably on less and who value things other than money when accepting a job. I was simply answering the question that was asked: How is it possible to hire quality people while paying below market rate? By making it worth the reduction in pay. Whether or not Gitlab succeeds in doing this, I have no idea.
In looking at those GitLab pay scales, it's a pretty SEVERE pay cut for all but the most junior people. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with a 50% pay cut to do "something cool".