Here are some ways to think about this:
The equity is for risk already taken plus the value of the IP- the two years at minimal salary (or none at all) plus opportunity cost of not having a highly paid position (many founders could be execs at larger companies), not being able to save, worrying about payroll, etc. Why else risk your financial future? On top of that, most of the value creation comes in the initial stages (ie. where the work is less commoditized). This implies a larger value capture.
The compensation is market rate for the actual position currently held- eg. a CTO at a scaling startup makes $130K-150K, founder or not. This aligns incentives. A founder no longer working at their company does not/should not make any salary.
These situations are more complicated than they appear at first glance. You really don't know why things are structured the way they are until you get into them.
The compensation is market rate for the actual position currently held- eg. a CTO at a scaling startup makes $130K-150K, founder or not. This aligns incentives. A founder no longer working at their company does not/should not make any salary.
Re taking money out of rounds: This is for incentive alignment b/w the founders and investors. Mark Suster discusses this in much more detail than I can, http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2009/09/02/should-founder...
These situations are more complicated than they appear at first glance. You really don't know why things are structured the way they are until you get into them.