[dangrossman]

Maybe I just don't understand startup culture, but, no. Absolutely not. Cutting your salary in half to take a promotion? Where's the money going to come from to do CTO things, like hiring engineers, if the company can't pay its CTO a reasonable wage? I would not advise you to do that, especially when it's not even something your financial situation can support.

[jeffmould]

Completely agree here. I would not take a 50% cut to take, what amounts to in title at least, a promotion. Granted the founder role may come with different class of shares or bonuses which may be something to consider. But at the same time, those shares are probably worth minimum now and will be that way for an extended period of time or at least until fully vested. Either way, you are giving up immediate, guaranteed income to take a bet on the value of the company down the road. If you are not financially and mentally prepared to take that gamble I would not recommend doing it.

I am not sure I understand why a CTO role would be a 50% pay cut from your current role? It sounds like they are trying to pull a fast one on you hoping you like the title over the salary.

[ctomaybe]

There's definitely a component of saving burn rate for the company and making me more literally dependent on the success of the company. I understand the perspective there and the needs that the company has right now, but I'm leaning on the no side -- if I can't provide for myself and my wife a stable means of living, there's no way I can continue doing the high-quality work that has earned me this offer.

[ctomaybe]

That's where I'm leaning. I want to be part of this in a big way and I want to contribute in every way I can, but if I can't afford to live while doing it then it's not going to fly.

From a circumstantial standpoint we're in a significant pivot that's gotten really good response but we're running short on runway on our first seed round from 1+ year ago (hence the emphasis on lessened salary).