As for taking a paycut to work on something particularly cool, sure, why not? I've certainly done it in the past. But accepting a salary lower that doesn't even cover your cost of living (as implied in the article), when joining a company that's reportedly taken $20M in venture capital... That seems pretty unreasonable. Even exploitative.
I am not optimizing for salary. I am optimizing
for happiness
And most of the times it is.
Not optimizing for money is setting yourself up for long term sadness. Though it might make you feel comfortable for the meanwhile.
I'm not saying work for minimum wage. Money is obviously a component to happiness, because while you can't buy happiness, it's hard to be happy when you can't afford to eat. But you probably don't have to hit 100% of your maximum earning potential to avoid starvation-induced unhappiness, which is why optimizing for money is not my approach.
I know there are certainly folks out there being taken for a ride. But take me for example- I know I personally could find more extravagant wages if I wanted, but I am not optimizing for salary. I am optimizing for happiness, which is what keeps me where I am.