As the company grows and about this 25 or so employee size, your main job shifts from building a great product to building a great company.

In the early days of a startup, people's compensation is whatever you negotiate with a founder and it's all over the place.

I think the best thing you can do is be aware that as a first time founder you are likely to be a very bad manager.

The thirteenth search engine- and without all the features of a web portal, most people thought that was pointless.

... but actually it sucks to have a lot of employees, and you should be proud of how few employees you have.

The way you get deals done and the way you get good terms, is to have a competitive situation.

You only get points when you make something the market wants. So if you work really hard on the wrong things, no one will care.