It’s important there are vocal leaders showing the sacrifices they are making — otherwise it’s easy for others to pretend it isn’t possible to make the same sacrifice.
I think it’s counter-productive. He is making this seem like a huge sacrifice when, in fact, it’s par for the course. I wish if he wanted to talk about it, he would make it less about himself and more about “what it takes to run a business”. In many cases, people pay themselves nothing, take on debt (without having ever made millions of dollars per year), and don’t guilt-trip/lord it over their employees.
(Ok I’ve said my piece, I won’t continue to be a hater :P)
I would be very surprised if any significant fraction of CEOs and business owners had cut their personal compensation to this degree. Sure there are a few here and than, but probably, what, less than 5%?
This guy is clearly trying to garner some promotion out of his sacrifice, but he did still make the sacrifice and I think it benefits our society to laud people who do this.
You are definitely right for CEOs of large companies. But for small (aka most) businesses, including startups, you might be surprised. It’s also important to note that some business owners don’t have the luxury of being able to cut their own salaries (because they are already living at subsistence levels) and sometimes don’t even take any salary to begin with. By paying himself nothing, he shows he already has resources accumulated (which is not a bad thing!). This is a luxury some business owners have and others do not.
(Ok I’ve said my piece, I won’t continue to be a hater :P)