4 ms·

this is funny - you're saying you've never done it, and asking why everyone else doesn't do the same thing as you, but you've been a founder, right? So you prob

this is funny - you're saying you've never done it, and asking why everyone else doesn't do the same thing as you, but you've been a founder, right? So you probably hired people? Did you pay them market comp, or do you have a story about why it was justified not to? Was it their fault for accepting the offer you made them? Were they somehow signaling their own inferiority by applying and/or accepting your offer, implying that they couldn't get full market comp? Were they trading something intangible like "autonomy" and "impact" for comp-dollars?

JamesBarney 4y ago
The exact opposite. Im not asking why someone doesn't do the same as me. Being a founder is terrible choice financially, worse than being a startup employee. I'm asking why someone does something different than I did which is take below market rate to work for a startup. We posted a job for a certain compensation, they applied to and accepted the job at that compensation. If they could make more money elsewhere I don't know if it's their fault for accepting our offer, but it was their choice. I don't think they were signalling their inferiority. Some we paid above market to, some we paid below market to. People we paid below market to we try to increase their salary to match market. We never sold any intangibles, and the only intangible we offer but don't advertise is we're very flexible with hours and it's low pressure environment. At the end of the day these are not children but adults who need to do what's best for them. If our offer and job isn't what's best for them then they shouldn't have applied and accepted the offer.