It might feel that way to you (or me) but you can do quite a lot with cash - such as bring in different devs with different skills. I could say I'm worth $120k and my contribution should be worth that, but I only have so many skills. Taking $120k and bringing in 2-3 people with various skills for different stages of a project has a different strategic value - in most cases it's a greater value than the contributions of one person. Obviously not always, but probably in most cases.