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I am an experienced Startup CEO. Ask Me Anything.

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Re: I am an experienced Startup CEO. Ask Me Anything.

#3

Post by jurjenh »

jack7890 wrote: post #2

Q: Why do startups need so much money? A: Salaries (imagine paying 2k x month x person) Doesn't $24k/yr seem far too low to get quality talent?

You're not trying to attract talent at this stage - you and your co-founders are it, and you're there for something bigger than the initial paycheck.

You are mainly focussed on getting a working initial version whilst trying to keep your head above water, and 2k a month goes a long way to keep the bills under control (depending on your lifestyle of course, but aiming for ramen-profitable means keeping your bills low)

Re: I am an experienced Startup CEO. Ask Me Anything.

#4

Post by jack7890 »

jurjenh wrote: post #3
jack7890 wrote: post #2

Q: Why do startups need so much money? A: Salaries (imagine paying 2k x month x person) Doesn't $24k/yr seem far too low to get quality talent?

You're not trying to attract talent at this stage - you and your co-founders are it, and you're there for something bigger than the initial paycheck. You are mainly focussed on getting a working initial version whilst trying to keep your head above water, and 2k a month goes a long way to keep the bills under control (depending on your lifestyle of course, but aiming for ramen-profitable means keeping your bills low)

I realize that the employees won't normally be as talented as the founders, but I question whether any non-braindead people will work for $24k/yr. That's getting dangerously close to minimum wage.

Re: I am an experienced Startup CEO. Ask Me Anything.

#5

Post by samt »

jack7890 wrote: post #4
jurjenh wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not trying to attract talent at this stage - you and your co-founders are it, and you're there for something bigger than the initial paycheck. You are mainly focussed on getting a working initial version whilst trying to keep your head above water, and 2k a month goes a long way to keep the bills under control (depending on your lifestyle of course, but aiming for ramen-profitable means keeping your bills low)

I realize that the employees won't normally be as talented as the founders, but I question whether any non-braindead people will work for $24k/yr. That's getting dangerously close to minimum wage.

Yeah, that feels like a strange middle ground between "founder" and "employee"... You would never get enough equity to make the tradeoff a good deal. I'd be surprised if situations like this happen very often.

Re: I am an experienced Startup CEO. Ask Me Anything.

#8

Post by angusgr »

moolave wrote: post #7
spdy wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i am pretty sure he talks about € not $

Yeap, he's based out in Finland.

Lazywebs googling shows Finland doesn't have a universal minimum wage, but that in 2008 salaries for the lowest paid jobs averaged €1600/mo.

So €2000/mo is not too far from what you'd expect "minimum wage" to be, equity notwithstanding.

http://www.finlandforthought.net/2008/07/14/no-minimum-salar...

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