In the age of Indian unicorns, soaring valuations, and ever-growing investor expectations, the discussion around founder salaries continues to gain relevance. FY25 has been a defining year—startups recalibrated their cost structures, investors demanded sharper governance, and founders themselves faced increasing scrutiny over what they draw from the companies they build.
While the Indian startup ecosystem has matured significantly in the past decade, compensation for founders has not grown uniformly. Some founders continued to take symbolic salaries to preserve runway, while others aligned their pay with standard CXO benchmarks. As per industry conversations, filings, and disclosures across
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