As someone trying to build a brand new team, I am happy to pay people whatever they think they are worth. I wonder if there is a way to do this without offending the engineers I am trying to attract - I mean, if they are not to answer the question how much do you want, how do I pay them what they want? I am not at all worried about over-paying because any engineers that don't meet the performance bar I set won't last long enough for it to matter.