As a Founder, should your startup's salary be on par with whatever you were making at your last job? Or should you tough it out and not get paid at all? The answer is probably neither of those options.

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One of the most common questions among Founders is - Do I have to raise money for my startup?

What that question generally means is: "Can you tell me how to raise money and where to find it?"

Sure, every startup could put more money to use but does every startup need funding?

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What if you could be completely broke, on the verge of bankruptcy at home, while still running a thriving business?

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There are endless stories about Founders cashing out on their startups - but what happens to those Founders after the exit?  Are they happier for it?  If not, then how does that affect the path that current Founders are on?  Wil and Ryan dive into real post-mortems of what happens to Founders after they sell their company, and the painful emotional issues that come with life post-exit.

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When we think about "startup exits" we think about "millions and billions".  But how life-changing could an exit of as "little" as $250,000 be?  A lot more than you might think, which is important because most people are far more likely to get to a $250k exit than millions or billions. Wil and Ryan unpack exactly how $250k could fundamentally change your life and how trying to get to that milestone first could be a more achievable and powerful goal than holding out for the big Willy Wonka ticket.

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A true startup is a meritocracy where big degrees and titles shouldn't determine how capable your team is or how fast each person can grow.  We talk about creating an environment where each team member can put their past accomplishments aside and focus exclusively on what they have contributed to the startup today. 

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If you find yourself focusing more on not losing than winning then it could be time to fold the tents and pack up camp, but when should you make that call?

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What if instead of focusing our startup around our product or revenue - we started optimizing for our own happiness?  What if our work hours gave us more time with our kids or who we worked with were only the people we enjoyed the most?  It's possible!  The key is thinking about your startup differently by using "personal happiness" as a core tenet of how the company works.

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In the age of "unicorn valuations" and giant funding rounds, the world has lost sight of how valuable a startup can be with even a million dollars of revenue.  Ryan and Wil do a detailed walk through of exactly how important a million dollar business can be to a Founder and how dangerous it is to be lead astray by big numbers that have very little personal value to a you as a Founder.

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Many of us play a horrible game of comparison, whereby we compare ourselves to other Founders, other startups, and if we're (un)lucky, the press and social media barrage we see of other people's success.  It's all BS.  The moment we start comparing ourselves to other people's apparent success, we all lose.  In this episode we talk about how to "stay in your own lane" and avoid the fallacy of following false idols in the startup world.

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