75k.
Get board approval for all founder compensation changes. Present a formal proposal.Co-founder salaries don't have to be equal. Base compensation on role, experience, and need.Never take a salary that jeopardizes the company's runway.
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The Founder's Salary Dilemma
Figuring out your own salary is one of the first real tests you’ll face as a founder. Every dollar you pay yourself is a dollar you can't spend on a critical engineer, a marketing campaign, or extending your runway. Pay yourself too little, and the personal financial stress will burn you out and lead to poor, desperate decisions. Pay yourself too much, and you’ll kill your company before it has a chance to breathe—and scare away every smart investor.
Forget what you think you "deserve." The right approach to founder compensation is purely pragmatic. Your salary has one job: to cover your living expenses so you can focus 100% on building the business. That's it. You aren't getting rich off your salary; your equity is the prize.
Step 1: Calculate Your "Survival" Number (Bootstrapped & Pre-Seed)
Before you raise a dollar, you're in survival mode. If you’re bootstrapping, you're likely paying yourself nothing, living off savings and ramen. The moment you have any capital, whether from early revenue or a small pre-seed round, your first salary goal is to ensure you can keep going without financial distress.
Don’t guess. Calculate your actual monthly personal burn rate:
- Rent or mortgage
- Utilities (internet, electricity, gas)
- Groceries
- Transportation
- Childcare
- Student loans and other debt payments
- Insurance (health, renters)
Add 10-15% as a buffer for unexpected expenses. This total is your "survival" salary. For most founders in most cities, this lands somewhere between $40,000 and $75,000 per year.
Common Mistake: Paying Yourself $0. While it sounds noble, paying yourself nothing is a vanity metric that often backfires. Living on the edge of personal financial ruin makes you a bad leader. You’ll optimize for short-term cash (e.g., taking on bad-fit customers) instead of long-term value. Taking a modest salary to cover your basic needs is a responsible business decision.
Step 2: Set a "Fair" Salary (Post-Funding)
Once you raise your first significant round of funding, the conversation changes. Your salary is now a line item your investors will scrutinize. They expect you to be compensated, but they also expect you to remain lean and focused on the upside.
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