Founder's 5-Year Income Sacrifice

A story about the financial sacrifices Randy Hetrick made in the early years of his company.

"I went the first 5 years without any pay. That includes 2 years of business school where I was working on this idea, plus the next 3 years. After that, I started paying myself $50k per year.

If you dollar cost average the first 10 years, I probably made $50k a year, which after 14 years as a Navy SEAL with a Stanford MBA wasn't killing it. I was living in San Francisco at the time, paying a mortgage up on Twin Peaks. Later I fled to Marin like everyone does eventually.

I should have taken money off the table when we raised our first round after about 9 years. Instead, I just focused on getting my cash compensation up to a level that felt right for the 100 hours a week I was working. Not pulling money out of the business was a mistake - I should have done both."