His major complaint is that they scared away all the good talent.

Okay, I didn't make my point very well.

To put it another way, it's amusing that the software engineers make a big deal out of free food and drinks, when the people "above" them are getting massive pay checks from the software engineer's work.

It's no wonder we're getting another tech bubble when software engineers will sell themselves out for $5 worth of snacks.

I'll quite happily take the snacks if it means I can code in peace all day and not have to worry about finding funding, talking to investors, keeping the company running, etc. They're the ones with money on the line too, they probably deserve the "massive checks".

Well, that's how people work. It's the job of management to understand how people work.

As the article says, losing the free soda isn't the major complaint, it is the wake-up call.

Steve Blank is a VC or Angel or something like that or all three.

But that's the thing, eh?

Free soda is a perk that costs the company say $10,000. It makes taxes a bit complex (because do people really declare the free soda?) but it's cheap and easy and people love free stuff.

The goodwill you get from that simple gesture is worth more than just giving people the cash as part of their salary.

You either have PHBs that get it, and leave it alone (while monitoring for abuse) or you get PHBs who don't get it, and who cut it, and who then have to spend a lot more money replacing all the staff who leave.