[blindhippo]

Same thing happened to me.

I gave my company a choice: raise my salary/title to reflect the new hierarchy or lose me to a competitive offer. They fed me a line about how the company was making money, but not enough to raise everyone's salary (translation: we don't think you can get a competitive offer).

I took another job 3 weeks later for 25% more money + actual equity (not bullshit stock options).

Startups can be fun, but in terms of compensation, the early employees will get screwed over.