>This never made sense to me There's a lot of naive people that will allow their trust to be exploited if there's a carrot dangled in their face. Now it makes

>This never made sense to me There's a lot of naive people that will allow their trust to be exploited if there's a carrot dangled in their face. Now it makes sense. Most investors will flat refuse to invest in a startup that pays anything more than low-mid-range salaries. Contrary to your theory that the greater risk should be rewarded with a greater tangible wage, I've personally seen investors pass on companies because the founder(s) wanted a 100k salary, even though it represented a 40% haircut in wage for the founder(s). While the investors don't want you to think it, and do a lot to try to stop it from being thunk, Silicon Valley and tech culture make a lot more sense when you just realize that wealthy, seasoned investors are exploiting naive, just-out-of-college young adults as practically free labor, primarily compensating them in idealism and empty promises instead of dollars.