Those investors are trusting you with <i>a lot</i> of money. They put in seed money these days at $5m-$10m pre-money valuation. If any of my employees come in asking to trade $50k-$100k of salary for an extra percent of the company during the first year, I&#x27;m happy to make them that deal.<p>After the founder who went a year getting paid negative money, the investor putting $1m in their dream and valuing it at $5m-$10m is taking the next highest amount of risk, and I have no problem with the reward they get in exchange.