[KeithBrink]

One overlooked factor in these numbers is that the founder now has more levers to pull. For example, they are paying $206k in payroll, and in an emergency situation, could let some staff go and take over those functions themselves.

I've experienced the same thing with my bootstrapped startup; I'm not paying myself any more money than I did 3 years ago, but if I need money, I can double or triple my own salary within a month or two.

The reason the founder isn't doing that now is likely exactly the same reason Uber or other VC startups consistently lose money; they are optimizing for growth, not profit/salary.

[password11]

> The reason the founder isn't doing that now is likely exactly the same reason Uber or other VC startups consistently lose money; they are optimizing for growth, not profit/salary.

Optimizing for growth is very risky and makes sense to VCs. VCs diversify into dozens of companies. The odds that one company will be a moonshot are pretty good. But as an individual founder you're 100% exposed to the growth/collapse of your one company.