It's about differentiating and showing business value. It's not that hard to generate 10x that value for a business if you know how to apply and scale your knowledge. I am absolutely sure that this is not top of market but people aren't calling themselves "remote developer" to get it.
You don't think $400k is top of market for a remote developer?
It's not about showing business value if someone else can show that same value for less. I find it hard to believe there are many developer skill sets that couldn't be retained for less than $400k. (or 4 x $100k remote devs for that matter)
There are tons of employees that generate far more than 10x their salary for the business. But salaries aren't set based on your "value". They are based on market rates.
