Kunj Bhujwala’s Post

The return of the pay raise: Why companies are betting on money over perks. In a competitive job market and AI-driven economy, companies from Walmart to startups are leveraging salary to drive engagement. https://lnkd.in/eRkvHc4t

This piece from The Review by First Round Capital on early-stage compensation is a practical read. The section on “𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸” offers sensible, founder-tested advice that feels grounded in reality, not theory. The bigger lesson is that compensation strategy isn’t about chasing benchmarks but about judgment: knowing what motivates different types of people and aligning rewards with impact. It also reminded me that there’s no one-size-fits-all rulebook.   • 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, so comp should fuel performance and discipline in equal measure.   • 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, so comp should reward long-term value, not short-term wins.   • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, so comp should spark urgency and shared accountability for outcomes. I also found the fluid compensation idea powerful: at Clay, pay shifts in real time as people outperform, not only during annual cycles. In Southeast Asia, where cash flow constraints often dominate and equity still feels abstract, this mindset of flexibility and 𝚏̶𝚊̶𝚒̶𝚛̶𝚗̶𝚎̶𝚜̶𝚜̶ meritocracy could be transformative. #Startup #Compensation #People #Scaling #Organization Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gcPjbcw7

Early-stage founders face a tough balance: attracting 10X #talent without breaking the long-term #comp model. Excellent piece from First Round Capital on foundational comp strategy, using fair cash, meaningful equity, and rewards tied to lasting business value https://lnkd.in/gFee3dZy #FoundersJourney #TalentStrategy #EquityCompensation #BusinessScaling #ValueCreation

You can’t always outpay the competition, but you can outsmart them. 💡 Most growing companies lose great people because they try to compete on salary. You’ll always lose that race. Here’s what to do instead 👇 ✅ 1. Offer ownership, not just income. Set up an ESOP (Employee Stock Option Plan) so top performers can earn equity over time. ✅ 2. Tie it to clear milestones. Make vesting depend on results, revenue, retention, or performance goals. ✅ 3. Communicate it like a mission. Show them what their equity could be worth if the company grows 2x–5x. When people have skin in the game, they stop thinking like employees and start acting like partners. When your team feels invested, they think long-term, perform better, and stick around. Because they’re not just working for the company, they’re building with it 💪. #EmployeeIncentives #TalentRetention

Most founders screw up compensation. Here's what we learned after 5 years helping startups make offers: The biggest mistake is winging it. Basing early employee comp on what feels fair… Or what runway you have… Or what the candidate asks for. That strategy breaks down fast. At Dover, we follow 4 rules for compensation: 1. Build a compensation philosophy first. It's your stance on the "why" that creates consistency and becomes a talking point during negotiations. Questions it should answer: - Will we pay for performance or fairness? - How does remote status impact salary? - How do we calculate bands for each level? 2. Use actual comp data to make offers. We use Pave at Dover. It connects directly with your ATS and HRIS to give you real-time benchmarking results. 3. Build a talk track for framing offers to candidates. Having a consistent philosophy lets you communicate transparently. In our offer letters, we say: "At Dover, we want to reward people fairly for their meaningful work. We anchor above market on cash versus similar work at companies like ours (75th percentile)." 4. Know your levers for negotiation. The more you grow, the more you'll hit negotiation conversations. Find out how candidates prioritize cash vs equity. Consider trading equity for cash or vice versa rather than just increasing both. — For early-stage companies, we recommend: - 50th percentile for base salary - 75th percentile for equity This will fluctuate as you raise more rounds, but it's best to compensate more in equity while cash streams are limited. How do you think about comp at your stage?

For HR leaders and compensation professionals: broad-based equity programs may offer better talent alignment, retention, and belief in the company’s mission

When you set up a company, and I’m talking “scrappy founder-operated efforts” here, not corporate spinoffs or other entities that start life with seven or eight figure backing, one of the first formalities you go through is setting up your web presence. I’ve known this step to have a peculiar effect on founders. Because among the web pages they know they’re supposed to have is the classic About Us, which will have to contain photos and bios of all the team. It makes them self-consciously ask, “Will anyone think we’re legit if there’s only two of us?” That kind of second-guessing often gets factored into their raising efforts as well. I have no data to prove this, but I reckon that there are startups that hire people (or at the very least create an org chart showing how many people they want to take on as soon as they have your money) just because they think it’s what a proper company is supposed to have. Well, let me tell you something: I hate long payrolls. They absorb money like your favourite brand of kitchen towel does spills. And I have never believed that success at the early stage comes from how many people are on the payroll. It comes from whether the essential duties (here I mean functions, not job titles) are covered. If you configure your team around these and then worry about people’s titles later, you’ll end up with a much tighter, more efficient, dynamic team. From what I’ve seen, the strongest early teams usually have a few key “brains” in the mix: - Someone who can tell a compelling story and build trust with investors and partners. - Someone with the intellectual firepower to steward the research and safeguard the IP. - Someone with a product instinct who can turn science into usable solutions. - Someone steady enough to keep the day-to-day stuff ticking over, handling priorities, operations and execution. In some cases, these hats are worn by just one or two people. In others, it takes three or four. What matters is whether these functions are genuinely present and working together. Headcount can be irrelevant.

Something I learned early on in recruiting: compensation might get you the conversation... but culture, trust, growth, and purpose close the deal. This new article featuring Deel on Fortune shows how that mindset is now shaping compensation globally. 𝗠𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀? • AI/ML talent has a 𝟮𝟬–𝟮𝟱% 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘂𝗺 • The US 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 in base comp + total equity • Equity is no longer a perk, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 • Younger candidates are 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 equity, flexibility, and transparency • Fortune 500s are 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 for technical hires to stay competitive with startups as demand for AI talent increases. It’s not just “𝘩𝘦𝘺!! 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘺 + 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘢𝘨𝘦” anymore. Compensation has to be transparent, flexible, and aligned to how people actually live and work. Salary matters — but ownership, clarity, and trust are what move the needle for top talent. 👉 Read the full article here and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments: https://lnkd.in/eHrDfWVA

I’ve been reading a lot lately about a company who has been around for ages yet due to be poor leadership and money mismanagement are close to shutting their doors. Like every good, solid company they started off with the best intentions. They had a set of values and rules that everybody should adhere too and created a nice company culture. Yet, over time the rules have been flouted and abused. A lot of the company benefits were once a driver for people to join. But due to them being abused over time, they’ve become null and void. The values are still written on the wall in the canteen, however haven’t been followed for years. The hiring process used to be that strict, it was very difficult to work there. And if you did, you were very proud of yourself. Now it’s a case of putting bums on seats and making as much money as possible. And the new hires want to bring in values and rules from other companies they’ve worked at, which causes further unrest. Management have moved away from looking after the company and its peoples best interests and have become nothing but greedy. Yet, they are bleeding money like no man’s business and are close to becoming bankrupt. Now, as you can imagine the people who’ve been working at the company for their entire lives are fed up. They were promised changed when new management came in and it’s gone downhill even more. They are lied to at every possible opportunity and fear for the worst. HR don’t want to know, as they look after the companies interest and have zero interest in the people, so where do they turn? It’s only a matter of time before they are made redundant or sacked. Then where does that leave them? You’re probably wondering what the name of the company is…

TL;DR Everyone deserves dignity and respect, especially from the CEO's who benefit off their labor. I've worked in a variety of industries at this point, from hospitality/food service, education, customer service, tech (RIP), and finance, and while I've had my share of not so great managers and team leads, I've generally been fortunate working with the most compassionate, understanding, professional managers during my time So when I heard about a recent contact's experience with their last company, I was genuinely appalled. Imagine going into a a quarterly 1:1 with the CEO in which you are a top performer. You are not only the one person in the company that is required to come into the office the most, but also the only one who is paid hourly. You come in, not to make a case to be paid salaried, but just to bring up the idea. You say to the CEO, "I really want to grow with this company and as a top performer, I just want to know what the path is to become salaried here." The CEO literally scoffs in your face and says, "You think *you* could be salaried at this company?". Your heart sinks but it gets worse. Right then and there, the CEO of the company literally pulls out his laptop and GOOGLES "How do you become salaried at a company?" and READS OFF THE AI prompt that it gives him. You leave the meeting holding back tears. My friend's passion for the company, unsurprisingly, wavered. After they applied for an accommodation, they were abruptly let go for "insubordination" when leadership noted the drop in performance. Mind you, they were still a top performer when they were let go. On top of this, the CEO has been known to get upset when someone doesn't give him two weeks notice but will immediately kick someone out of the office the moment they give him one and it has happened a few times. It's entirely unjust, and flat out hypocritical. My contact told me this story, justifiably upset. No one deserves to be treated like this but especially those who actually want to grow with the company. Workers at every level deserve respect and dignity at every level of a company they work. As a result, that company missed out on growing an employee who had great potential and now everyone is worse off from it. People want to work, is it too much to ask for a little respect at the same time? #workLifeBalance #Jobs #careerDevelopment #respect #dignity #workplace #leadership