Yuck, what a mess. My monthly rate is absurdly high, because for the last 10 years I&#x27;ve chosen to work primarily for companies that will get a lot of value out of working with me. The fact that I&#x27;ve done security work for big financial firms doesn&#x27;t mean my work is that valuable to the startup <i>relative to what all the other founders are getting</i>, but my resume anchors my rate there.<p>If you&#x27;re finding it important to draw these kinds of lines between founding team members, that&#x27;s a sign that you might not have the right founding team members. A founding team that &quot;clicks&quot; and works together is <i>incredibly</i> valuable, probably far more valuable than any year&#x27;s worth of billing you&#x27;ve ever done. Don&#x27;t mess it up with stuff like this; it&#x27;s just not worth it.<p>Man, I am even more procrastinatey than normal today.