I usually say the hardest part of running a tech startup is raising money, but that’s a bit of a smokescreen: We spend the money on software developers, who are an incredibly hot commodity in scarce supply. Finding them is the toughest task.

Part of the problem is that startups have to compete with hegemons like Google and Facebook that offer extraordinary salaries for the best talent. I recently met a college student whom Facebook recruited as a summer intern at $10,000 a month. A junior developer fresh out of college can...