If you want a great startup to work at you have to find the start up that fits you. And invest. Not dollars directly, dollars in your pocket. Move. Live cheap. Take less salary and more equity. There are startups on both coasts, and a few in the middle. But the most important thing is that you find a job you like in a company you believe in that you think can go somewhere.
I think what he was trying to get at is that a lot of smaller startups can't afford to pay a higher salary - and in turn offer more equity. These may be great companies to work for, and the point being made is to not right them off simply due to salary.
That was the idea. If you really want the start up experience a great team on folding tables is better than a place with weekly massages, and a snack room with a yogourt machine that is living on hype.
