you also completely misunderstand my point about comp. the point is genuine risk takers are willing to only make money when they create something of real value (by taking equity), instead of end of year mark to market profits and the other nonsense that goes on at hedge funds, investment banks etc.

In theory this is great, but the problem with this is that typically, the smartest/most capable/most talented individuals go where the money is, within whatever industry they’re in. I personally think human capital should be valued at whatever it’s worth -> employees should be paid at least at market salaries, AS WELL as with favorable options packages.

I’ve met a lot of entrepreneurs, but even the smartest are usually barely on par, intellectually/analytically/etc, with average/mediocre hedge fund analysts (just from my own personal experience). There is a reason for this; make startups more compelling for smart people to join; value human capital at its intrinsic worth, and pay accordingly; after all, that’s what the VC money is for half the time, right?

A reasonable solution is to allow new post-series A employees to get more equity if they take a lower salary. I like to lay out a range of option/salary tradeoffs and let them pick the point they’re most comfortable.

BTW I don’t hold it against people if they pick salary over options. The important thing is that they be comfortable with what they choose.