[shadowcaster]

"They got a salary, probably a decent one, for however long they were running the thing." - I want to second this. I worked for a startup that the C level's made huge bucks (we were paid really well too) and they would wine/dine on the companies $$ all the time. They sold the company for a little more then the funding they got, but spun a new company off where investors got little and they cashed out.