"young man as he was on a call explaining, in painfully monotone detail, EBITDAs, margin expansion opportunities, cost structures, ARR, etc."
that does not sound like someone in IT. Granted many of my roles it seemed like they were constantly pushing bussness and management bs on you so maybe. thos things did make me the most depressed with my job activities.
the idea that a startup founder would be a good example of a typical tech person??? Its like the founder of a plumbing company as a typical plumber.