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If it's only the execs (founders I assume) then this may create unhealthy tension within the company. Think about the company's employees. Especially the ones

• gruseom 15y ago
  But this is an argument not that the trend is bad, but that it should go even further and benefit not just founders but early employees as well. I'm inclined to agree. No doubt investors who feel this way are advocating strongly for employees' interests while structuring deals. Actually, the trend does seem headed this way. Just as the balance between founders and investors has been shifting, so it is shifting between founders and early employees. Scarcity in the hiring market for top talent is one indicator. It is bound to be exacerbated by the fact that creative people who want to work at a startup can easily just found one themselves. We may see the line between founders and early employees blur over time. None of this seems very troubling. It looks to me like creative people being rewarded more, and earlier, for value they add. Perhaps it is more troubling if one has nothing to add but money. But even that seems short-sighted. Why not maximize the total value created?
• chrisbennet 15y ago
  I can see one upside of founders taking cash early; their treatment of the early employees foreshadows how they will treat them when the actual equity event happens. Otherwise, an early employee would have to wait/work years longer for the actual equity event (if it ever comes) to find out how they will be treated.