[WhitneyLand]

I think sometimes the salary market would disagree with that.

At many companies a sales engineer can make more money than a developer.

Personally I think it’s too nuanced a question to answer generally. Depending on who it is and the context “the right” person in either role can make all the difference.

[TuringNYC]

To put some context here, SEs often make so much because of commissions, not due to some crazy salary.

Commission based sales seem like a good thing -- it is pay to perform. "Business co-founders" are not the same thing as SEs, because "Business co-founders" are often paid upfront (via equity) for the future promise of performing. That is not a setup with good alignment of interests.