SUMMARY

Jackie Lamport presents exclusive 2024 data from 150+ high-net-worth founders in the Hampton community, revealing salary ranges, bonuses, industry variances, funding stage impacts, and creative compensation strategies.

STATEMENTS

• 8% of founders pay themselves no salary, often to reinvest in scaling the business for future exits, though many later regret not taking modest pay earlier.
• 80% of founders keep their base salaries under $300,000, with only 4% exceeding $500,000.
• 29% of founders take only their salary without additional payouts, while 9% receive at least $1 million extra annually, and 30% get $100,000 to $300,000 more.
• Founders divide into two groups: those reinvesting profits for long-term growth and exits, and those optimizing for current cash flow to support lifestyles, especially second- or third-time founders.
• Average take-home pay rises with net worth, from $350,000 for $1-10 million net worth to $6.5 million for those over $100 million.
• C-suite roles like heads of marketing, product, operations, tech, and sales have base salaries between $120,000 and $200,000, with bonuses ranging from $25,000-$50,000 for most to $125,000 for sales heads.
• 35% of founders offer equity to C-suite, 20% provide profit sharing, and 18% do both.
• Finance and insurance lead in base salaries among industries, while healthcare tops bonuses at $870,000 average despite lower base pay of $168,000.
• Bootstrapped founders average $650,000 total take-home, the highest; Series B founders average the lowest at $260,000.
• Founders use creative perks like routing 50% of personal expenses through the business, earning $3,000 monthly credit card cash back, 401(k) matching, or taking company-backed loans up to $250,000.

IDEAS

• Founders who forgo salaries early often achieve big exits but frequently wish they had balanced reinvestment with personal well-being to avoid unnecessary hardship.
• A hidden divide exists between "legacy builders" who sacrifice current pay for massive future payouts and "lifestyle optimizers" who prioritize steady cash flow, influenced by entrepreneurial experience.
• Net worth correlates strongly with take-home pay, suggesting that ultra-wealthy founders extract far more value as their businesses mature and stabilize.
• Sales roles in C-suites command outsized bonuses, nearly doubling base pay, highlighting how revenue generation directly ties to executive rewards in founder-led companies.
• Industries like healthcare rely on explosive bonuses to offset modest bases, revealing how regulatory and high-stakes environments drive variable compensation over fixed salaries.
• Bootstrapped companies pay founders the most overall, challenging the notion that external funding always boosts personal earnings and instead showing self-funding enables greater control and retention of profits.
• Creative compensation bypasses traditional salaries, turning business perks into personal gains, such as treating half of daily expenses as company costs without raising red flags.
• Equity and profit sharing in 53% of companies (35% equity, 20% sharing, 18% both) incentivize C-suite loyalty, but their absence in nearly half underscores uneven retention strategies across startups.
• Series B funding stage squeezes founder pay the most, likely due to investor pressures for growth over personal extraction, inverting the expected funding-pay correlation.
• Credit card rewards and 401(k) matching emerge as underrated "salary multipliers," providing thousands in untaxed value that rivals bonuses without altering official payroll.
• Home, garden, and outdoors industries lag in both salaries and bonuses, possibly due to thinner margins and less scalable models compared to finance or healthcare.
• Second- and third-time founders lean toward cash flow optimization, implying that prior successes reduce the all-in risk appetite of serial entrepreneurs.
• Running personal expenses like rent and travel through the business blurs lines between company and self, offering tax-efficient lifestyle support in bootstrapped ventures.
• Survivor bias in founder stories glorifies no-salary phases, but real regrets from successful exits reveal the human cost of extreme reinvestment.

INSIGHTS

• Forgoing salaries accelerates scaling but at the expense of founder well-being, teaching that sustainable growth requires balancing ambition with personal financial security.
• Compensation philosophies split founders into legacy-focused reinvestors and cash-flow prioritizers, where experience level predicts preference and shapes long-term business trajectories.
• Rising take-home with net worth illustrates a wealth compounding effect, where established founders leverage company maturity to extract value without stunting growth.
• Bonuses disproportionately reward revenue-critical roles like sales, emphasizing that in founder ecosystems, direct business impact trumps positional hierarchy in pay structures.
• Industry bonuses in high-regulation fields like healthcare act as risk premiums, decoupling base pay from total compensation to align incentives with uncertain outcomes.
• Bootstrapping maximizes founder earnings by avoiding dilution from funding, highlighting self-funding as a path to autonomy and higher personal returns in mature stages.
• Non-salary perks like expense routing and rewards hacking creatively bridge personal needs and business deductions, redefining "compensation" beyond payroll in resource-constrained startups.

QUOTES

• "A lot of the founders that we've spoken to on this show have told us that they paid themselves nothing, particularly early on, in favor of putting everything right back into the business so that they can scale it as fast as possible."
• "The people who seem to be optimizing for cash flow are those who are second or third time founders or also seeing it as a lifestyle business."
• "One founder in particular told us that they run 50% of their expenses through the business. So, that includes uh 50% rent, Wi-Fi, gym, and travel expenses."
• "One person actually said that they are taking home an extra 3K a month in uh credit cards cash back."
• "Even if it did pay off, they have told us on the show that they kind of wish that they didn't, that they had paid themselves just at least a little bit."

HABITS

• Founders reinvest all early profits into business scaling instead of taking salaries, aiming for future exits but often reflecting later on modest personal draws.
• Second- and third-time founders prioritize steady cash flow to support lifestyles, treating businesses as sustainable income sources rather than high-risk bets.
• Ultra-high-net-worth founders extract maximal take-home pay, averaging millions annually, by leveraging mature company structures for distributions and bonuses.
• C-suite leaders focus on bonus-eligible roles like sales, where habits of revenue generation double compensation through performance-tied incentives.
• Founders creatively integrate personal finances with business ones, such as routing half of daily expenses (rent, gym, travel) through company accounts for tax efficiency.

FACTS

• 67% of surveyed founders serve as both founder and current CEO, influencing their compensation decisions directly.
• Total average founder base salary across industries is $202,000, but additional bonuses average $332,000, significantly boosting take-home.
• Finance and insurance tops base salaries, while pets and animal care ranks second, defying expectations for high-earning sectors.
• Series A founders average $305,000 total take-home, rising to $460,000 at Series C, showing funding progression impacts pay.
• 18% of founders offer both equity and profit sharing to C-suite, combining long-term ownership with immediate gains.

REFERENCES

• Hampton community (joinhampton.com): Source of exclusive data from high-net-worth founders with at least $3 million in revenue.
• Moneywise show: Podcast hosted by Jackie Lamport featuring transparent founder finance discussions and back-catalog episodes on reinvestment vs. cash flow.
• Full salary report: Available via link in video comments, including uncovered details beyond the video breakdown.

HOW TO APPLY

• Assess your founder role and stage: If you're both CEO and founder (like 67% surveyed), benchmark your base salary against the $202,000 average, adjusting for net worth to aim under $300,000 initially unless over $100 million wealthy.
• Evaluate reinvestment vs. cash flow: For first-time founders, allocate 100% of early profits back into scaling, but set a modest $50,000-$100,000 personal draw after year one to avoid regrets, tracking progress toward exits.
• Structure C-suite pay strategically: Set base salaries at $120,000-$200,000 for key roles like sales and tech, then layer on bonuses—target $125,000 for sales heads—while offering equity (35% adoption rate) to retain talent.
• Compare by industry and funding: If in healthcare, expect lower bases ($168,000) but plan for high bonuses ($870,000); bootstrappers should aim for $650,000 total take-home by avoiding Series B constraints that drop pay to $260,000.
• Implement creative perks: Route 50% of verifiable personal expenses (rent, travel, gym) through the business for deductions, maximize credit card cash back ($3,000/month potential), and explore 401(k) matching or $250,000 company loans after consulting tax advisors.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Exclusive data shows founders balance reinvestment for exits against cash flow, with creative perks amplifying earnings beyond traditional salaries.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• Prioritize modest early salaries over zero pay to sustain well-being, as successful founders often regret total reinvestment despite big exits.
• Tailor compensation to funding stage, extracting more as a bootstrapped leader to maintain control unlike Series B constraints.
• Offer sales heads high bonuses to double their pay, aligning incentives with revenue growth in founder-led teams.
• Route personal expenses through the business judiciously for tax benefits, but weigh employee and investor relations first.
• Join founder communities like Hampton for direct advice on perks like credit card rewards, avoiding generic data pitfalls.

MEMO

In an era where startup glamour often overshadows gritty financial realities, a new report from the Hampton community of high-net-worth founders peels back the curtain on what 150 successful entrepreneurs actually pay themselves. Drawing from 2024 data, producer Jackie Lamport of the Moneywise podcast reveals a landscape far more nuanced than viral anecdotes suggest. At its core, 8% of these founders forgo salaries entirely, channeling every dollar into rapid scaling with eyes on multimillion-dollar exits. Yet, many who struck gold later confide regrets, wishing they had carved out modest livings to ease the grind without derailing success.

The numbers paint a picture of restraint amid abundance: 80% keep base pay under $300,000, a far cry from the seven-figure fantasies peddled online. But additional bonuses and distributions tell a richer story, with 30% pocketing $100,000 to $300,000 extra annually and 9% clearing at least $1 million more. Lamport highlights a philosophical fork in the road—legacy builders who reinvest for windfalls versus cash-flow chasers, often serial entrepreneurs treating ventures as lifestyle engines. Net worth amplifies this: Those worth $1 million to $10 million average $350,000 take-home, ballooning to $6.5 million for the $100 million-plus elite.

C-suite compensation underscores priorities beyond founders. Bases hover at $120,000 to $200,000 across roles like marketing and sales, but bonuses explode for revenue drivers—sales heads nearly double their $157,000 salary with $125,000 extras. Nearly half offer equity or profit sharing to bind talent, a nod to retention in volatile times. Industry breakdowns add intrigue: Finance leads bases, pets surprise in the top five, while healthcare's $870,000 average bonuses dwarf its $168,000 pay, compensating for sector rigors. Bootstrappers thrive at $650,000 total, outpacing Series B's meager $260,000, where investor demands squeeze personal gains.

Beyond payroll, ingenuity reigns. Founders hack perks like routing 50% of rent, gym fees, and travel as business expenses, or reaping $3,000 monthly from credit card cash back. Others leverage 401(k) matches and company loans up to $250,000, blurring corporate and personal lines. These tactics, shared vulnerably in Hampton's circles, warn of tax and relational pitfalls but illuminate paths to viability. As Lamport urges, aspiring leaders should join such networks for tailored wisdom, ensuring decisions fuel both empires and lives. This data isn't just numbers—it's a blueprint for founder flourishing in an unforgiving arena.