In the context of startups that flow through YC, all founders are employees. The startups are Delaware C Corporations. Corporations are required to pay the people who work at them at least the statutory minimum wage. There&#x27;s no exemption for owners. And there&#x27;s significant liability for a company that skirts the law and later becomes successful [for some definition of &quot;successful&quot;].<p>To put it another way, all those items may matter for a small business organized in another way. But a C-corp is legally a &quot;person&quot; separate from it&#x27;s owners, officers, and employees.