I've been told that investors will generally veto any attempts by founders to give themselves "large pay raises." Series A investors will likely allow small ra

I've been told that investors will generally veto any attempts by founders to give themselves "large pay raises." Series A investors will likely allow small raises so that you're not living off ramen anymore, but founders should still expect to be paid below market rate. My guess is that compensation would be a topic of board discussion -- especially executive compensation. In an early stage company, it would be politically impossible to argue that you should be paid more simply so that you don't jump ship. Threatening to quit does NOT go over well with investors. It's pretty common that early employees and non-founder executives are paid more than the founders. Obviously, the founders will own considerably more stock.