[irishcule]

"Do they really though? That's really the owners getting paid that, not all the workers. And a lot of that is really valued on the potential rather than what was actually produced to that point."

I believe the OP is talking about the owners of the startups.

[giantg2]

But in that case, the question still stands. Sure they started the company, but they didn't build it alone. There are usually people involved with little to no equity. It's similar to how there are CEOs making millions per year, when that money is really made through the sales of the products of the workers. So they aren't just being compensated for what they produced, but for what everyone in the company produced.