Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by orenbarzilai 4089 days ago
"With that kind of money raised, the founders didn't get "nothing". They got a salary, probably a decent one, for however long they were running the thing. Which is more than many startup founders get out of businesses that fail. If they don't have personal debt, or didn't lose relationships or friendships, they came out ahead of many startup founders who started a business that failed."

Well, you should always consider the alternative cost. I don't know the founders but I can assume that if they would have work somewhere else they had much higher salary/ benefits etc

1 comments

"I don't know the founders but I can assume that if they would have work somewhere else they had much higher salary/ benefits etc"

I think you'd be surprised. The A-round term sheets I've had come my way over the years specified a salary for founders bigger than any I've ever received working for other companies. It was more of a suggestion than a requirement of the deal, I think, but it gave some clues about the salaries the investors would be comfortable with the founders being paid. It was always generous. Not "C-level at Google" high, but certainly better than "low or mid-level developer at almost any company in the US, including good ones".

By the time you are raising millions of dollars, you are drawing a decent salary. Maybe you could make more somewhere else, but I believe it's more likely you'd make less.