these days it seems a lot of the burn rate is in sky-high salaries. employees seem to be treating the fund as a piggy bank. i've been speaking to a lot of VC-backed small ventures in the bay area and even in these times, $150k starting salary is not being balked at or even questioned. $150k seems to be the floor for negotiation with many. and thats for engineering...god only knows what the "ceo" is earning, likely $250k or more.

Aren't bigger salaries an offset to the risk? I mean, startups are riskier than 'solid companies' (well, not that much these days, but that's the premise), so it makes sense to offer more money for someone to 'jump in'... That or equity - but I suppose with current trend of companies going broke, equity doesn't seem like a good deal for most people...

Wow... thanks for the insight.