This is just from my perspective... For background, I usually own one or more departments in a typical startup, ranging from Pre-Sales Engineering to Customer

This is just from my perspective... For background, I usually own one or more departments in a typical startup, ranging from Pre-Sales Engineering to Customer Support, to IT. In every case when I hire someone I have a set of what I consider to be reasonable expectations: They will have a method to get to work reliably. They will have a method to bathe regularly They will have a method to be contacted after-hours in case of emergency (land-line and/or cell phone) They will have a method to be contacted and respond electronically after-hours. During the Interview stage, and in any offer letters, I make it clear that if you want to take a job at a startup you are going to be doing the work of 1.5 - 2.5 "standard" employees. We might not have a budget or requirement for 24.7 staffing, but things WILL happen after hours from time to time, and unless there are extreme circumstances you WILL be expected to act in a reasonable amount of time to respond to or resolve the issue. So, I generally expect my employees to have basic connectivity and reachability after hours. Sometimes, depending on the scenario, the company will subsidize some or all their cell-phone or cable-modem bill, especially if either are used "significantly" for their work. At the same time, I wouldn't pay for someones car, or clothing, or heat bill. Cable modem/Internet at home is usually NOT subsidized unless the employee is a pure telecommuter. Maybe my expectations are illogical, but of course I don't think so ;)