[wakeless]

These guys live in here Melbourne, cost of living is pretty crazy high. Sure, you could get away with paying yourself less than that, but 60k (less business expenses) puts them in the realm of basic office clerk.

Maybe the startup founder's lot in life is to be poor while they are starting up, so could probably do it with less. But they are hardly overstepping the mark.

[balls187]

There are a few schools of thought with founder salaries for early stage startups (assuming you have money to pay salary).

1. Pay yourself the barest minimum you can to survive, which may be 0.

2. Pay yourself just enough that you're not worried about money.

High founder salaries, especially in early stages goes against many investment theses.