> Given that the employees are so crucial in building the > product... If the product can not be created without your effort alone, you should seriously con

> Given that the employees are so crucial in building the > product... If the product can not be created without your effort alone, you should seriously consider asking for a significant equity stake in the company and becoming a cofounder. If you don't want to take an ownership stake you should ask for a very large salary. Most likely the product can be created not just by you but also by someone with your skill set. In that case you should definitely expect fair market salary for your effort. If the founders can't afford to pay, they need to raise more cash from investors, not beg professionals for charity. If the founders are asking you to take a reduced salary, they're really asking you to become an investor, and you should expect that for every dollar reduction in your salary you get that much equity in return.