Why Some Founders Don’t Pay Themselves

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Dec 2, 2025

Explore the intriguing reasons behind why 8% of founders take no salary at all. Discover the sweet spot for founder pay and how lifestyle choices impact financial decisions. Gain insights into C-suite salary ranges and the surprising industries raking in the most compensation. Learn about the creative ways founders optimize their earnings, from credit card hacks to running personal expenses through their businesses. Dive into the world of funding stages and uncover the financial dynamics that influence take-home pay.

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INSIGHT

Founders Sometimes Take Zero Salary

8% of founders reported paying themselves nothing, often to reinvest and chase a larger exit.
Many who did so later wished they'd taken at least a small salary to improve life along the way.

INSIGHT

Two Founder Pay Philosophies

Two distinct founder strategies emerged: reinvest-for-exit and optimize-for-cashflow.
The averages mask these differing approaches and motivations behind pay decisions.

INSIGHT

Take-Home Scales With Net Worth

Take-home correlates strongly with net worth: $1–10M founders average ~$350K, rising to $6.5M for $100M+ founders.
Total yearly take-home climbs steeply as founders' net worth increases.

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Stop making million-dollar decisions alone. Hampton gives you a personal board of eight vetted founders in your city who meet monthly to tackle your hardest problems. Find your group: joinhampton.com

Everyone wants to know what founders really earn, but most of the numbers out there are either outdated or just plain wrong. We gathered fresh data from 150+ high-performing founders, and the results reveal just how differently they think about paying themselves. Some take home millions, others nothing at all, and the logic behind those decisions says more than the numbers themselves.

Here’s what we talk about:

8% of founders take no salary at all — why? (and whether they’d do it again)
The sweet spot for founder take-home pay: how much is too much?
C-Suite compensation breakdown: who's earning what, and where bonuses explode
Lifestyle vs. legacy: how founders think about cash flow vs. long-term exits
Industry winners: finance, pets, and healthcare dominate earnings
The one funding stage where founders earn the least
Non-salary perks: credit card hacks, expense runs, 401(k) tricks, and company-backed loans
A rare peek into the creative (and sometimes questionable) ways founders make it worth their while

Cool Links:

Hampton https://www.joinhampton.com/
Lower Street https://www.lowerstreet.co/

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Chapters:

(1:37) Base Salaries
(3:14) Founders Who Pay Themselves Nothing
(3:56) Salary Distribution and High Earners
(4:34) Additional Payouts and Bonuses
(5:11) Two Types of Founders: Reinvesting or Cashflow
(6:14) Take Home Pay by Net Worth
(7:18) C-Suite Salaries and Bonuses
(8:43) Industry Salary Breakdown
(9:24) Highest and Lowest Paying Industries
(10:03) Compensation by Funding Stage
(10:52) Creative Compensation Strategies

This podcast is a ridiculous concept: high-net-worth people reveal their personal finances. Inspired by real conversations happening in the Hampton community.

Your Host: Jackie Lamport

Not really the host, but the producer.
Wrote this sentence.