IMO if someone does real work, either code, marketing or some other effort that contributes to the currency, then they deserve "some" reward.
Yeah, tbh a pre-mine of a few thousand is fine. It's just when you insta-mine a ton of coins, or even pre-mine them...like Feathercoin.
Unfortunately, the community rages whenever someone wants to make a little bit of profit for their work. :L
If the developer announced before the launch that "a few thousand" would be premined, I would think nothing of it. Actually, I would be more inclined to support the coin, due to the upfront honesty.