[ttul]

I came here to make the same comment. If you’re founding a company and it’s a fantastic investment opportunity, nobody will have any problem with you paying yourself a great salary. If the opportunity is less great, then they may take issue with their money being used to pay the founder so much money. The optics of a high founder salary in any case are poor; investors view your founder equity as a major component of your compensation and they want you to be somewhat hungry for success rather than being satisfied with your base pay.

If your startup is a few years old and you’re looking to make more cash, I suggest negotiating a bonus package with your board of up to 100% of your base salary. If you hit targets, few investors will argue with paying the founder a decent bonus.