Why would anybody do unpaid sweat equity in founding a risky startup? A gamble that can only pay off if you were to win the startup lottery. The same issue in

Why would anybody do unpaid sweat equity in founding a risky startup? A gamble that can only pay off if you were to win the startup lottery. The same issue in New Zealand. Anyone with a professional job invests $100k/year in lost wages founding their high risk venture. Lose taxes if you win. Lose 100% of your time if you lose. Hardly economically worth being a founder given expected return is so poor (worse than the standard figure of 90% businesses fail after 5 years). We don't have a capital gains tax yet in NZ but CGT means nobody sensible should found a startup by "investing" their time.