Ask HN: How do you set comp at an early stage startup?

Location - Assuming you're not based somewhere obscure, there'll be endless compensation reports, benchmarks, glassdoor data, etc available as a starting point.

Growth stage - How you compensate people when there are three people in the company is immensely different to when there are 20 people, 120 people, 500 people, etc. Equity is more important at the earlier stages but with everything going on in the world, don't assume equity alone will be sufficient to win people over.

Product industry - Some of this is location specific but different product industries pay different premiums. In the UK for example, FinTech pays more than most areas of tech, gaming pays less than most.

Funding - If you're sitting on a ridiculous amount of funding, then you need to lean into paying as far above average as possible. One thing that doesn't and probably never will change is that the more you pay people, the easier it is to hire. Obviously the less funding you have, the less you have to spend on comp but see my point above in growth stage.

Whatever is the lowest expense you can afford to still attract someone you need.

Based on my experience, there is never a lack of young, brave and naive people who still buy into the startup romantics. Or just want some exciting adventures. So many startups' comp partially consists of cool titles, bells and whistles.