Should companies deliberately pay employees above market rate?

Harry Stebbings · published Nov 27, 2023

If you expect more of employees than any other employer would, you owe them more pay because you know what they are giving up

Compensation should reflect the greater demands and sacrifice

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Max Freeman · published Oct 10, 2026

Paying roughly 2x market rate for sales talent works economically if you demand proportionally higher output — e.g. 40-60 meetings booked versus a standard SDR's quota.

The unit economics work because above-market pay is exchanged for four-to-six times the standard output.

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Guillaume Moubeche · published Dec 13, 2024

You should overpay people — roughly 20% above what they're being offered elsewhere — because it helps you attract 10x profiles and makes it easy to let them go quickly if they don't deliver

A very well-paid role sets a clear expectation of delivery, so replacing an underperformer becomes straightforward

33:26 Overpay to attract top talent and simplify firing underperformers

Dan Siroker · published May 15, 2024

Funded startups should pay cash compensation better than founders think — around the 75th percentile — rather than discounting salary for risk

The old idea of trading risk for reward by punishing salary is antiquated; a great candidate choosing between two startups will take the one offering lots of equity and lots of cash, and you want to hire great people rather than those who accept the marginally efficient salary

24:07 Pay near 75th percentile cash rather than discounting for equity risk