A lot of money is the only thing that motivates? That's just sad.

I think you're wrong, though. If you're only going for the money, you're not motivated by what you are doing, you're just a mercenary. To me real motivation is someone who is passionate and loves what he is doing, and would be doing it with the same passion even if it never would make him a dime.

I don't think most YC start-ups are doing what they love -- they are doing something to get rich. That's how you get a group of people together to work hard on something. Programming is mostly tedium, and nobody loves that -- why would Arc be taking so long otherwise? Once you don't have to work, and have money, and can do what you "love", I think you'll find most people become indolent.

I hope this isn't true. I'm not sure about YC start ups but I know that I'm in this field because I love it. If you just want to get rich there are certainly easier ways to do that (e.g. real estate, investment banking).