Spending years building a business for someone else (even a parent) while being undercompensated is a powerful training ground. It forces a level of conviction, humility, and delayed gratification that can lead to explosive growth once you start your own venture.

While 8% of founders pay themselves nothing to maximize reinvestment for a future exit, this strategy is often regretted. Even among founders who achieved a multi-million dollar exit, many later wished they had paid themselves at least a small salary to improve their quality of life during the building phase.

Facing minimal growth for nearly a decade, the founders maintained morale by viewing the struggle as a free education, comparing their journey to doctors or architects who invest years in unpaid training. This psychological reframing helped them persevere when financial rewards were absent.

Beluga Labs adopted a small business mindset from day one, ensuring they were profitable on their very first customer. This financial discipline, counter to the "growth at all costs" mentality, keeps margins high and reduces reliance on continuous VC funding, giving the founders more control and a sustainable path forward.

When Exit 5 transitioned from a side project to a real business with salaries, the financial pressure became a "forcing function." This created a necessity to constantly improve the product's quality to justify the investment, trapping the team into making it great.

Instead of seeking a soul-fulfilling first venture, focus on a business that pays the bills. This practical approach builds skills and provides capital to pursue your true passion later, without the pressure of monetization.

Founder failure is often attributed to running out of money, but the real issue is a lack of financial awareness. They don't track cash flow closely enough to see the impending crisis. Financial discipline is as critical as product, team, and market, a lesson learned from WeWork's high-profile collapse despite raising billions.

Despite a $50 million exit from their previous company, the Everflow founders intentionally limited their initial investment to a few hundred thousand dollars and didn't take salaries for two years. They believed capital scarcity forces focus and efficiency, preventing wasteful spending while they were still figuring out the product.

Thiel observes that the less an early-stage CEO is paid, the better the company performs. A low salary (under $150k) paired with high equity aligns the CEO with long-term value creation and sets a culture of shared sacrifice, whereas high pay incentivizes protecting the status quo.