Founders aren't necessarily the ones putting up the cash. I haven't seen any statistics on the percentage of "startups" that are founder-funded, but in my personal experience the majority are not - even if the money is borrowed from family. Not considering opportunity cost, the founder isn't out $200k, the investors are. IMHO founders usually have the best position in a startup. They get paid to possibly reap the benefits of ownership, but if it fails they are out of a job like any other employee. They assume similar costs as their employees, but stand to gain much more.

The point isn't that the founder loses 200k out of his pocket, it's that the founder loses out on a potential of 200k by taking a lower salary working on the startup instead of working at a company.