Gilding the lily a bit there, aren't we? I've worked in half a dozen start-ups, and a few owner-started small businesses before that, and none of them had a founder that lived on zero pay for years (excluding the founder who came from an 'old money' family), and none of them worked 7/12+. Long hours, sure. Work on weekends, sure. Work 12+ hours every day as a normal way of life? Pull the other one.

Just because you can find the occasional person that does this, doesn't mean that they're a typical example.