Your point is well taken but usually the bigger burden to buying a house is being able to afford the monthly payments, especially at high interest rates like right now. Esp in Bay Area where most startups are.
Usually if you don't have the money for a down payment, you probably don't have the cash inflow for making monthly payments either. Especially at a startup where you are not drawing much in salary.
Maybe it depends on the area and kinds of properties one is looking at?
Only a little anecdata, but the few times I've looked (affluent university town, once recommended as a place to do a tech startup)... if one could swing a downpayment on certain places, the monthly costs were lower than rent one would otherwise have to pay, on places not as nice.
Usually if you don't have the money for a down payment, you probably don't have the cash inflow for making monthly payments either. Especially at a startup where you are not drawing much in salary.