Ask HN: Should I Take CTO/Co-Founder Role?

Completely agree here. I would not take a 50% cut to take, what amounts to in title at least, a promotion. Granted the founder role may come with different class of shares or bonuses which may be something to consider. But at the same time, those shares are probably worth minimum now and will be that way for an extended period of time or at least until fully vested. Either way, you are giving up immediate, guaranteed income to take a bet on the value of the company down the road. If you are not financially and mentally prepared to take that gamble I would not recommend doing it.

I am not sure I understand why a CTO role would be a 50% pay cut from your current role? It sounds like they are trying to pull a fast one on you hoping you like the title over the salary.

That's where I'm leaning. I want to be part of this in a big way and I want to contribute in every way I can, but if I can't afford to live while doing it then it's not going to fly.

From a circumstantial standpoint we're in a significant pivot that's gotten really good response but we're running short on runway on our first seed round from 1+ year ago (hence the emphasis on lessened salary).

I mean, right now I have about 1% equity and I'd jump to near 10%, so in the event of wild success of the company (let's say a 100M exit) I'd be way ahead, but in the meanwhile I don't think it's responsible to sacrifice the financial stability we're just arriving at. I'm in no position to open deep lines of credit and have no savings, so it's not like those are options.

The way I see it, it's really a timing issue more than anything. If I were a homeowner, I could consider an equity line on my home to cover a couple months of expenses (plus I wouldn't be paying rent...), or if I had a longer credit history I could open a big card with the understanding that I would either have a good exit with the company or leave for a well-paying, more stable job at a larger company at some point and be able to repay the debt either way.

It's just the wrong time in my life to take this risk, unfortunately. It's not even the long-term effects of the risk, either, it's the change to the near-term status quo that I don't think I'll be able to handle.