I think the motivation of early employees can be quite different from what you propose. I can speak to my own motivation: Knowing what partners are in the pipe

I think the motivation of early employees can be quite different from what you propose. I can speak to my own motivation: Knowing what partners are in the pipe lets me contribute to landing the customer in the first place. I can work with exec to team on how we can improve the product to appeal to the customer. I can provide costing estimates to see if the customer is worth acquiring. A big part of startup compensation is tied up in equity. If there is no insight in to the business health, I am not able to accurately value my employment. One of the opportunities in a startup is in learning how you might eventually run your own business. Learning about customer acquisition, about corporate structure and strategy, and about fundraising are all things I expect to be exposed to in exchange for much lower compensation.