This is not correct. Internet services are considered high yield businesses and their ROI is very high. Google, Facebook, Apple, etc... pay high salaries even comparing to swiss standards.

The problem is that a startup is, eh, a start - up. You are using mainly your skills and as much resources you have to start. An expensive place should not be ideal for that, but hey, san francisco is super expensive and is still the startup hub.

So maybe there is something else...