Big tech salaries are climbing into the millions. For startups, the gap has never looked wider. Yet founders at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 say early stage companies can still attract world class talent by focusing on fairness, ownership, and purpose over paychecks.
Yin Wu, the founder and CEO of Pulley, said startups should stop trying to compete with big tech altogether. Instead, they should design compensation packages that make people feel like owners from day one.
“My strong opinion is that you should be more generous than you think you should be,” Wu said. “If the company becomes successful, you will never regret sharing that success with the people who helped you build it.”
Equity with purpose
Startups cannot match Meta or OpenAI in cash, but they can build value through equity. Randi Jakubowitz, head of talent at 645 Ventures, said every startup offer should connect performance with ownership.
That means setting clear goals, creating fair vesting schedules, and acting quickly when things do not work out. “If someone is underperforming and you wait too long, that is equity you will never get back,” she said. Accountability matters as much as generosity.
Build fairness early
Rebecca Lee Whiting, founder of Epigram Legal, said the best founders design compensation systems that are consistent from the start. They pay within set ranges for each role and document how equity is calculated. That transparency prevents bias, supports compliance, and protects the company as it scales.
Wu said Pulley follows a simple rule. Every role has a fixed pay band regardless of where someone lives, and all employees receive equity packages ranked in the ninetieth percentile. “It helps us grow without creating chaos. The structure stays fair even as the value changes,” she said.
Focus on intent, not perfection
Early stage founders often feel pressure to get everything right immediately. Whiting said the goal is to build with good intent, not flawless execution. “You will likely have to clean things up after your Series B, and that is okay,” she said.
Fairness, clarity, and flexibility are the real advantages startups have over massive companies. They can offer purpose and ownership in place of oversized paychecks.
The real takeaway
A strong startup compensation strategy is not about chasing numbers. It is about aligning people with a shared outcome. When done right, it builds loyalty, keeps teams focused, and gives founders the credibility to hire great people at any stage of growth.