2. "Product visionary" is the term thrown around nowadays. Much like "ninja" and "rockstars" in dev jobs listings. CEO is the product guy. And in an early stage

2. "Product visionary" is the term thrown around nowadays. Much like "ninja" and "rockstars" in dev jobs listings. CEO is the product guy. And in an early stage startup (< 10 employees) he should actively code if he is technical. Or design (in case designer) or make sales pitches (if he is sales guy/gal). Its everyone's responsibility to contribute to product specs . Of course CEO/Founder should be leading that effort. BYOD - I'm part of founding team and so are bunch of my friends. In none of the case I see founders are diverting funds for personal gratification. And most of the founders I know take lesser salary than their employees. Liquid cash is like ocean in desert. Unless startups have venture funding or huge revenues, its pointless to buy every device for every member of company.