As long as you keep doing the right thing and have the best product, you can beat the bigger 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.

Press releases are easier to write than code, and that is still easier than making a great product.

You can basically change everything in a startup but the market.

Most founders have not managed people before, and they certainly haven't managed managers.

So it's worth some real up front time to think through the long term value and the defensibility of the business.

Unpopular but right is what you're going for.