The startups that do well are the ones that are working all the time.

Some day everyone will find out everyone else's comp, if it's all over the place, it will be a complete meltdown disaster

You don't need to make the structure complicated, in fact you shouldn't. All you need is for every employee to know who their manager is.

... if you talk to say any of the first 40 or 50 employees, they all feel like they were a part of the founding of the company.

Really dig into projects people have worked on and call references; that is another thing that first time founders like to skip.

One thing I tell startups all the time is that the best way to grow is to make their product better.

M&A negotiations feel really fun. This is one of the biggest killers of companies, is they entertain acquisition conversations.