Most well-funded large startups offer salaries close to market rate. Sure there is the risk that the equity can end up worth $0, but the salaries can easily be

Most well-funded large startups offer salaries close to market rate. Sure there is the risk that the equity can end up worth $0, but the salaries can easily be >$100,000. Even if theranos employees took a pay cut to work there (compared working at an established company), I am sure they derived extra value from the perks of working there and from working on a mission they believed in (or at least they thought they believed in...).