There was a Dilbert once (no longer available, for some reason), where Phil, the Prince of Insufficient Light, curses Dilbert to select one of two choices:
1) You will be paid well, but your code will be destroyed every night.
2) You will be poorly paid, but your code will be useful and appreciated.
Dilbert says "Hey! They're both better than what I have now! Wally, you should come and get some of this!"
Lots of reasons. Many folks are afraid of the unknown, so it's the devil you know, kind of thing.
That's why most folks aren't entrepreneurs. There's a ton of risk, involved in that kind of stuff, and most folks are risk-averse.
In my case, my job was sort of soulless, but only in parts. Many folks here, would say that it was a horror show, but I also worked for a company that gave me business cards that would open doors, I worked with some of the finest engineers and scientists in the world, enjoyed considerable trust, and had great stability.
Nothing comes for free. There's pluses and minuses to everything. I find it doesn't do me a whole lot of good to judge others on the choices they made, and, in the aggregate, there's not much in my life that I regret, and that's worth more than money.
1) You will be paid well, but your code will be destroyed every night.
2) You will be poorly paid, but your code will be useful and appreciated.
Dilbert says "Hey! They're both better than what I have now! Wally, you should come and get some of this!"