Colorado is home to a steady entrepreneurial environment. We see many start up businesses and many successes. The business culture here supports, studies and actually mentors entrepreneurs. With our ICOSA radio program, Connect & Collaborate, we have the opportunity to talk with some of the best minds in business. People like Karl Dakin, Innovation Manager and founder of Dakin Capital Investments, and Chuck Blakeman, the founder of Crankset Group, which helps business owners to be more productive, grow faster and reclaim the passion that inspired them from the beginning.
While Dakin advises business owners in terms of acquiring capital to start a business and Blakeman encourages them to identify the right time to delegate control - both men encourage entrepreneurs to make money.
Sounds simple, but it is often a struggle among start ups to pay themselves first. It has been common for new business owners to pour all their profits back into the company, making it a struggle for the entrepreneur to get by on a small salary if any.
But according to a report from Business Insider, entrepreneurs have caught on to the concept of paying themselves first.
"Career research company 80,000 Hours estimates that founders going through the Y Combinator accelerator program pay themselves about $50,000. If they go on to raise more money, that salary can double. If the startup flops, $50,000 could be the highest salary a founder makes." - Business Insider
Foundry Group's Brad Feld thought a six-figure salary was too high for an early entrepreneur. Another person agreed, stating that while $100,000 is below what an engineer should make, it's "certainly above market for a seed-funded startup."
"Salary should be sufficient to not create hardship — no sense in losing productivity because you can barely eat," this person concluded.