$110k is a ton of money to me. But I agree that doesn't look good for a company.

Are you a full time software engineer in the United States ?

A decent programer can make at least 100k almost anywhere in the US. I'd expect anyone running a tech company to make more than their own developers.

You don't even need to be a good developer, you can use an easier language like Python or JavaScript. Honestly 90% of success in this industry is not being a jerk and showing up on time. I've seen developers outright confront C level execs and predictably it doesn't work out so well.

The other 10% is luck. Occasionally you'll have a bad manager, or you'll join a company which doesn't manage their money well. And the only thing you can do in that case is leave.

"Are you a full time software engineer in the United States ?"

Yes. Almost 10 years experience and an MSIS. Making under $100k.

"Honestly 90% of success in this industry is not being a jerk and showing up on time."

I must be missing that other 10%. I've had multiple bad managers, switched stacks multiple times, and other bad luck.

It's a lot of money for a person, depending on where they live. But for a business it's definitely not.

Well, it's about a yearly developer salary where that founder lives - so not really "a lot of money" for them there, just the expected amount (and FAANGs do better, as do developers in New York working for finance).

Whereas his new salary is closer to a burger flipping salary, and actually less.

We do actually make payroll and have a solid runway. What my salary cut does is: a) signal the investor and the team that I'm serious about this venture, b) increase my equity and c) increase our runway by a couple of months.

As I've noted in a top-level comment, my intended message about focus gets a bit muddled without me giving the proper context. I'll add an update to my post with some context.