I'm 46 years old, yes probably a bit of a crumblie here, but don't get me wrong I love the energy that startup's have, I've been there (.com #1) and have done that, and would do it again.

But even when I was in my late 20's during .com bubble #1 (~1996-2002), I just wanted to be paid a decent wage for my skill set, I wasn't interested in "equity", "perks" and all that nonsense. I just wanted to bank money.

At the time I worked in Edinburgh, next to nice bars and decent food outlets. Yes there was partying and fun (but we also worked hard 12-15 hours a day), but it was on our time, and our dollar (or pound), and when we chose how to party and how much to spend doing that, it wasn't the startup's time and money or their idea of "fun", it was our hard earned cash, we spent it how we wanted (or not).

I hated that artificial...."startup fun" with pool tables, free drinks, meals etc. At lunchtime I (and my teams) wanted to go for a pint, eat a lunch that wasn't decided by the company, and you know, have free-will, and free conversation, outside of the constraints of the startup lunch room, where the founders were lurking all the time, listening in.

I didn't (and still don't) care about perks like laundry, or housecleaning, or in-house meals, healthcare, etc, just pay me properly and let me decide on these things. I'm (and was already back then) a grown up. I am able to make a sandwich for myself, I can wash my own clothes, and hoover and dust my own flat, when or if I wanted to.

I like, and have always liked, doing housework once a week (even in my early 20's!), I turn on BBC Radio 4 and listen to catchup radio (Any Questions, Westminster Hour, From Our Own Correspondents, etc) and it's peaceful, calming and helps me get away from work for a few hours, and I can reconnect with the real world outside of IT, and then return to the bubble hopefully informed about real things that matter to real people.

So, in a nutshell, pay your employees properly, let them decide what their perks are from their salary. All tha perks do is create a work camp in exchange for hard cash, pay your employees properly so they can decide when or if they want their laundry or house cleaning done, or where they wish to eat.

The more I hear about SV startup benefits, the more it creeps me out, so please, fuck off, stop becoming a developer nanny state at the expense of paying your employees a proper and fair wage. Also, to the young devs out there being sucked into this nonsense, seriously, start thinking for yourselves and stop enslaving your lives to these faux perks. Demand to be paid fairly and put cash in the bank, forget the foosball table and free drinks, it's a distraction.

ps: WRT to your employer providing, say, dual 24" monitors, a PC with i7 CPU and a decent chunk of RAM with SSD. It is not a perk, it's the tool you need for the job. The guy who is out on the road doing AA/RAC/Green Flag to fix your puncture for a fraction of the money that you earn is running around in at least $90-$100k worth of truck and tools. Why should your "startup" employer consider $2k - $3k worth of computer, which is your tool, a perk. You deserve no less than a wobble free desk, a chair that doesn't give you blisters on your backside after eight hours solid sitting and a computer that you don't want to throw out the window or brain your manager with.

Edit: bit hazy on my age back in .com #1, but the sentiments remain the same.