You&#x27;d be <i>amazed</i> at the number of companies in the Midwest that balk at paying devs above 65K, even for senior level work.<p>As for your company--if you fail and it wipes out your savings, that was your choice as a founder. There is no golden rule saying you need spend anything more than what is necessary to file bankruptcy. There&#x27;s a reason it&#x27;s called a <i>limited-liability</i> corporation.<p>And yes, being a founder isn&#x27;t easy (did that, flamed out, f--- would not recommend on amazon), but at the same time the sort of stress is quite different than the ongoing exploitation and powerlessness that you can find as an early employee faced with misbehaving founders. At least as a founder you have some degree of control.