This is understandable, but the valuable thing that this article illustrates is how, if you have entrepreneurial leanings, going to work as a developer within a business whose primary product is not related to software is not a winning proposition. Management isn't always a rational creature, and no amount of negotiation can get you a reasonable offer.
Obviously there's a ton of money to be made by catering to businesses that have money, but the best way to extract that money isn't to go and program VB6 all day. It's to start a separate business that offers that same service, which patterns the transaction in such a way that management is willing to pay market rates.
Obviously there's a ton of money to be made by catering to businesses that have money, but the best way to extract that money isn't to go and program VB6 all day. It's to start a separate business that offers that same service, which patterns the transaction in such a way that management is willing to pay market rates.