How much should early-stage startup founders pay themselves
One of the age-old questions arising in the early stages of a startup is how much should founders pay themselves?
There are several opinions on this. On the one hand, founders must be motivated to increase company’s valuation and the value of their shares in it, but high salary can relax them too much.
On the other hand, founders should not think about where to find money to buy food, clothes, ensure a quality life for themselves and their families, since such problems will defocus them from working on the project.
Someone says that founders should pay themselves according to the market, someone — 20–30% lower the market, someone — that they should not pay themselves at all.
It seems to me that there is no numerical answer to this question, there is only a logical chain: founders should pay themselves the necessary minimum, which will allow them not to think about basic (important!) needs and focus on the development of the project. What exactly this amount is, depends on each specific situation. In EduDo case — $0 (God bless!)
