[neogodless]

From my point of view, that was the impression I got, and I agree with you, though we can see that this is not the case.

"Tikhon Founder of Parse.com and Scribd.com. Investor."

That being said, I think where you are and who you are will give you a very, very different perspective. Reading something like this seems almost like gibberish to someone on the periphery (OK outside) of startup world.

It seems to me, though, that early in a startup process, if they aren't funded, they are taking on huge risk, and for employees to expect exceptional pay is asking for very much, considering the company hasn't proven it's revenue model yet.