The milestones you celebrate as a founder define everything and are you celebrating the right ones?

Among the startup companies, one of the most glorified narratives I have heard is this: a real founder does not pay themselves. Most of the founders talk about not drawing a salary like a badge of honour but I have never understood the glorification.

From day one, I chose to pay myself a salary and that decision was not just about comfort. It was about discipline and maintaining boundaries.

When not taking a salary becomes a moral achievement, it subtly shows that founders must suffer visibly to deserve success and that is a very dangerous equation.

There are founders who genuinely cannot pay themselves in the early days if their companies are fragile. For them, survival is the only priority. That reality deserves respect. But there is a difference between necessity and glorification.

Why I Paid Myself from Day One

I paid myself a salary from the start for three reasons:

1. Discipline:

A salary enforces structure. A founder gets to acknowledge costs, responsibilities and financial planning. Paying myself meant the company had to account for me as it would for anyone else with intention.

2. Boundaries:

Founders are told to give everything to their companies, as in time, energy, identity and so on. But total erasure of personal boundaries does not create stronger businesses, it creates burnout and distorted decision-making. By paying myself enough to take care of my family, I drew a line early:

• My family’s survival is not optional.
• My company’s reinvestment is non-negotiable.

That boundary did not weaken my commitment but stabilized it. Your team does not just listen to what you say, they watch what you reward. A founder who treats their own compensation responsibly signals that the company is built for the long term not as a temporary institution.

Founders Are Not Equal

A founder’s role is inherently unequal. The company’s value, the team’s value and often the founder’s personal value are deeply intertwined especially in the early stages. The responsibilities which are carried by a founder are broader and heavier than anyone else’s. Founders:

• Carry legal and financial liability
• Absorb risk others are shielded from
• Make decisions no one else wants to make
• Stay accountable when things fail

This is the structural reality and acknowledging these things do not diminish the team but in turn it clarifies leadership. My role, my benefits and my responsibilities, they are always going to be bigger than anyone else’s here. But that is the reality of being a founder and you do the things nobody else will.

Reinvestment Is Non-Negotiable

For me, the equation was always divided into two parts, and I believe it should exist from day one:

• Family security is mandatory.
• Company reinvestment is non-negotiable.

Anything beyond what I needed to live responsibly went straight back into hiring, training, systems and other growth opportunities for the team. And that is strategy. Strong teams do not just nurture under founders who martyr themselves. They grow under leaders who show them stability and trust in the business they are building.

What founders celebrate becomes culture. If you celebrate overwork, then you are normalizing burnout and if you celebrate self-denial, then you are normalizing insecurity. But if you celebrate thoughtful compensation then you normalize professionalism and if you celebrate reinvestment, then you normalize collective growth.

Drawing The Line

Many founders skip salaries because they have to, the company would not survive otherwise. They are making a hard choice between today and tomorrow and that choice deserves respect. Context matters in these cases. What is reckless for one company may be essential for another.

The real failure is not about taking a salary or skipping a salary. The real failure is never questioning the choice at all. It’s not about how much you draw. It is about whether you drew the line.

In conclusion, the milestones you celebrate as a founder define everything. They define how you lead, what your team believes, and they define whether your company is built on endurance or whether from exhaustion. Paying myself from day one was not a lack of belief. It was a belief with boundaries and in the long run, boundaries did not weaken my ambition. If you are a founder, then what milestones are you celebrating and did you choose to pay yourself from the start?