| I've been in a very similar situation before (one of the first engineer hires in a company that grew to about 15 people when I left). It's great that you're loyal and conscientious (you won't have any problems finding a job). The first thing you need to do is sit down with your CEO and have an honest conversation about how you feel. Come prepared with an outline of all your grievances and be very specific about what changes that you need to see to be made. This includes compensation and hours. These days early stage startups are offering super competitive salaries, and it's more than fair to ask. Having this conversation gives him a chance to do you and your coworkers right. Best case scenario: he totally empathizes and has a change in heart, and the company as a whole benefits. But you have to be prepared for the worst (which will probably happen): not only will he offended by your honesty, he'll come out attacking your character. These kinds of CEO are just emotionally clueless, and nothing you say or do will change their minds. In this situation, you must be fully prepared to walk away from this company. By staying you'll be enabling his behavior and you have nobody to blame but yourself for being in a hostile environment. By leaving, you not only will find a better opportunity (and you will), you hopefully will give the CEO a wake up call. When I put in my 2 weeks notice, I got blasted and put my founders and fellow engineers in a tough spot. But a lot of good came out of me leaving. Immediately after my 2 weeks notice, the CEO pulled everyone aside and gave everyone raises which were near market rates. The founders also became more aware of how employees felt. A few other coworkers who were as miserable as I was eventually left the company too, and they're all in better, happier places. There will be some people who will see you as leaving people behind and making things tougher for them. Over time those individuals will come around and see that whatever decision you made, you made it for the right reasons. The most important thing to keep in mind while you go through this: your top priority is your physical, mental, and (most important) emotional health. Don't listen to what other people say. Good luck with all this. This will be a tough journey, but if you keep your chin up, I guarantee that this will be the best thing that you'll ever do. |
This also means that you should have a BATNA, such as an offer of a new job. It sounds very much like the CEO's response will be to ask/force you to leave, so make sure you're operating from a position of strength if at all possible.