[7Figures2Commas]

I personally believe that founders have a moral obligation to do right by their employees, but ultimately it's important for founders to recognize that employees are responsible for their own economic livelihoods. Startups, particularly early-stage startups, come with a unique set of risks and prospective employees must evaluate those risks in the context of their own situations.

Ironically, a lot of the stress that some founders experience comes from their own lack of transparency with employees. I don't doubt that many founders care deeply about their teams, but many are also so mortified at the thought of not being able to recruit and retain that they try to paint the most favorable picture of the startup's current state, conveniently ignoring facts that aren't so favorable.

Obviously, the information that founders can reasonably share with employees changes over time as a company grows, but at an early-stage startup, there's really no excuse for anything less than full disclosure. As the founder of such a startup, you must accept that you can't guarantee your employees continued employment, but you can promise them that you'll be honest about the company's state.