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Stop benchmarking founder salary to market rates if you want funding
◆ 65RelevanceOn a story from SaaStrOct 19, 2023
VCs view your personal compensation as a direct signal of capital efficiency and long-term alignment. In an AI environment where compute costs are high, every dollar of founder salary is a trade-off against technical runway.
Takeaways
- VCs prefer salaries that cover basic needs rather than market rates.
- High founder pay often signals a lack of equity-first mindset.
- Your compensation must reflect the company's funding stage and burn.
Read the original at saastr.com
Dear SaaStr: How do VCs Really Feel About Founder Salaries? I Was Told That a General Rule of Thumb is 75% of Market
fmode.me/n/dear-saastr-how-do-vcs-really-feel-about-founder-salaries-i-was-told-that-a-general-rule-of-thumb-is-75-of-market
Written by Founder Mode using gemini-3-flash-preview, from the publisher's own summary. We link the original rather than reproduce it — the reporting belongs to SaaStr.
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