The Founder Salary Question
Set your own founder salary defensibly
How much should I pay myself: [COMPANY STAGE, REVENUE OR FUNDING, MY PERSONAL BURN - RENT, KIDS, DEBT, WHAT MARKET SALARY FOR MY ROLE WOULD BE]. Work it out honestly: the floor I personally need, what the company can carry without shortening runway painfully, the signal my salary sends to investors and early employees, and the tax/legal flags to run past our accountant (reasonable comp rules vary). Then the number, the trigger points to revisit it, and how to tell my cofounder or board without it being weird.
Inputs needed
- #Stage, funding/revenue, personal burn, market salary
What good output looks like
Personal floor and company capacity both quantified; signal cost considered; accountant flags named; a number with revisit triggers, not a vibe
The stream
Reading the room…
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