SaaStr · 2023-10-03 · 975d

Compensating Top Talent: Why You Must Pay People Right to Build Championship Teams

Jason Lemkin argues that SaaS founders must prioritize paying their best employees competitively, using Phil Jackson's rejection by the Lakers as a cautionary tale. The article emphasizes that exceptional talent is worth any cost, and that once companies achieve funding success, they should retroactively increase compensation for early employees who sacrificed during lean periods.

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Metrics in this report

Lakers Compensation Savings Target

6000000$

annual

Year-over-year salary reduction attempted

Phil Jackson Career Championships

11championships

total

NBA coaching career

Phil Jackson Coaching Tenure

5championships

with Lakers

Professional sports team management

Typical Seed Funding Stage

500000$

referenced example

Early stage startup constraint