Doesn't $24k/yr seem far too low to get quality talent?
You are mainly focussed on getting a working initial version whilst trying to keep your head above water, and 2k a month goes a long way to keep the bills under control (depending on your lifestyle of course, but aiming for ramen-profitable means keeping your bills low)
That said, if you choose well and you train well, the tradeoffs sometimes can work out quite well for you. People working their first 'real job' are often as dedicated as the founders; they know that if you make it big, even if they don't have equity, their career is made, either with you or with others who have heard of your success.
He's saying there are no employees at this stage. Just the founders.
So €2000/mo is not too far from what you'd expect "minimum wage" to be, equity notwithstanding.
http://www.finlandforthought.net/2008/07/14/no-minimum-salar...
Also, these are not directly comparable to US salaries, because you get a lot of things almost for free, which you'd have to pay for in US: education, healthcare, transportation, sauna every day, etc.
Someone is paying for those things, so they're not free.
In terms of tax dollars per capita, the US is in the middle/top of the EU. However, it looks like we get less for our tax dollars than EU folk do. It's unclear how more US tax revenue would change that.
On the other hand, the US is significantly above the EU in terms of income and GDP per capita.