This is pretty overblown, I think. I have with intention avoided working for very large companies for most of my career and have a nice house in a major urban area. I save plenty of money and am reasonably likely to retire (defined as "do work I want to, when I want to, for play money etc.") before I'm 55.
If $200K/year at senior/principal isn't "sustainable"--well, move out of the SFBA, I guess.
Not everyone has the flexibility to move wherever they want. I have family obligations in SFBA so I’m kind of stuck. Not that it’s super bad but I dream of saving 2x as much by moving somewhere cheaper.
That's the thing, though. Everyone knows equity value has decreased and salaries have generally increased to reflect it. Within some error bars, $200K is a pretty representative one amongst folks I know who are working for startups in a senior/principal role.
There was much more of a delta when I started doing this ~10 years ago, but even then few people were in a hard spot (again, SFBA types maybe excluded, get another two roommates I guess).
If $200K/year at senior/principal isn't "sustainable"--well, move out of the SFBA, I guess.