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Ask HN: Would you start a startup if the upside was limited?

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Re: Ask HN: Would you start a startup if the upside was limited?

#11

Post by adamzerner »

zsstor wrote: post #10
gexla wrote: post #5

Start-up founders don't get rich from salary, they get rich from owning the company (shares.) Here is a list of people who have employed themselves for one dollar. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-dollar_salary I'm guessing that people like Warren Buffet and Mark Zuckerberg spend surprisingly little money for their day to day living expenses. You don't see these guys driving around super cars, sporting a lot of bling…

Exactly. Given this system, there might actually be more incentive to create startups, as earning potential from a traditional job is limited.

Really? How many traditional jobs make over $500k/year?

Re: Ask HN: Would you start a startup if the upside was limited?

#13

Post by PeterisP »

Switzerland isn't planning to limit 'upside' in any way, as simply owning [part of] a rapidly growing company is something completely different from compensation like getting stock options that you didn't have before.

The 'cap', in essence, would refer only to hired managers.

Re: Ask HN: Would you start a startup if the upside was limited?

#14

Post by adamzerner »

PeterisP wrote: post #13

Switzerland isn't planning to limit 'upside' in any way, as simply owning [part of] a rapidly growing company is something completely different from compensation like getting stock options that you didn't have before. The 'cap', in essence, would refer only to hired managers.

The Switzerland example was just what got me thinking, not the focus of the question.

I was thinking about redistribution of wealth. There's all these founders making billions of dollars. What if instead they only made a couple million, and we gave the rest of it to poor people? Would they still have started their startups?

Re: Ask HN: Would you start a startup if the upside was limited?

#15

Post by accomplice »

Absolutely!

If it means helping to define and grow the culture I can do my best work in. To work with people I admire and trust(and may even be around for the next thing).. that's better than most jobs anywhere and incentive enough to be honest. It just so happens I also love designing great products, but designing great places to work can be just as fulfilling.

Re: Ask HN: Would you start a startup if the upside was limited?

#16

Post by PeterisP »

adamzerner wrote: post #14
PeterisP wrote: post #13

Switzerland isn't planning to limit 'upside' in any way, as simply owning [part of] a rapidly growing company is something completely different from compensation like getting stock options that you didn't have before. The 'cap', in essence, would refer only to hired managers.

The Switzerland example was just what got me thinking, not the focus of the question. I was thinking about redistribution of wealth. There's all these founders making billions of dollars. What if instead they only made a couple million, and we gave the rest of it to poor people? Would they still have started their startups?

The founders probably would have started them anyway if other things would be the same - but they wouldn't be the same.

In particular, the whole concept of venture capital wouldn't work, so lack of funding would've prevened the start of most current startups as it happened.

Re: Ask HN: Would you start a startup if the upside was limited?

#17

Post by OafTobark »

Doesn't affect me. I don't do what I do purely because of money and $500k/yr is still quite a cap relative to any job I would want to do. Even at a fraction of that, I still would rather work on something I care about. The only exception is if I care about the job I would be working.
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