I used to live and work (as a student) in Austin. Shitty minimum wage student jobs like I had in high school in Houston.

I've been a business owner in Austria for decades now. Every employee is covered by a collective bargaining contract for consultants and IT workers (my business area). Every employee has full medical, unemployment, pension payments, severence, 5 weeks of vacation, virtually unlimited sick leave, etc. etc. There is not a minimum hourly wage, but there are minimum monthly salaries for jobs and experience levels, so it is basically the same thing (actually better). The point is, as a business owner I can make a really good living (and I do) - but not by exploiting my workers. Not even as a startup can you exploit employees.

The underlying concept is that to be a viable business, it has to be viable not just for the owner, but for the workers, too.