If you can't make ends meet on 150k a year, you shouldn't be a startup CEO. It's that simple. If you need more security or up front money, there are plenty of

If you can't make ends meet on 150k a year, you shouldn't be a startup CEO. It's that simple. If you need more security or up front money, there are plenty of other industries and established businesses you can work in. No one has to be a startup CEO. A big part of being a startup CEO is the upside potential of the equity you get. You're sitting on potentially life changing amount of equity and your job is to make it actually worth something. If you need more than 150k a year, you've over extended yourself as a startup CEO and should probably do something else. Life is a series of tradeoffs. If you can't (or don't want to) do what it takes to be a startup CEO (and a big part of that is gambling on the future value of your equity), just go do something else. The 150k figure is for funded startup CEO's. If you build your own profitable company and want to pay yourself more, go for it. There's plenty of routes to the end. If you can't cut it on 150k a year for whatever reason (your wife's medical school debt, kids, required lifestyle, etc), just do something else.