This compilation step is only required once when you release your tool. The resulting binary is then providing fast startup and low memory footprint whenever users invoke your tool. So, yes, it is a real win if your tool gets used more than once.
Or use like lots of other languages that provide all these "wins" without having to provide justifications like "only for release build and if your tool gets used more than once".
I spend most of my time actually programming in the language, not compiling it. So, I'm going to optimize for that, but to each his own I suppose.
It's not an either-or, you can have both.
I can't really think of a language that I'd rather use than Clojure right now. So, I'd have to get these "wins" I'd have to switch to working with a language I enjoy less.