But... the whole point of compensating with stock is that they don't have the funding to pay more.... You can say "well they shouldn't hire people they cant af

But... the whole point of compensating with stock is that they don't have the funding to pay more.... You can say "well they shouldn't hire people they cant afford" but that's not very realistic. When you start a company in your garage everyone is making sacrifices b/c they think they'll cash out later.