Salary and payday make the most of discussions at coffee tables. Usually the CEO’s salary is the highest in most conventional companies but equally in some companies there are people who earn more in terms of salary compared to the CEO (Usually where the CEO is taking a token salary).
Lets look at a few facts…
| Company | CEO | CEO’s Salary | CEO’s Total Stake | Company Revenues |
| Cisco | John Chambers | $13m | $272m | |
| EMC | Joseph Tucci | $4.7m | $81m | |
| HP | Mark Hurd | $26m | | $108Bn |
| Microsoft | Steve Balmer | $1.3m | $12Bn | $51Bn |
| | Eric Schmidt | $480,000 | $6.6Bn | $16Bn |
| Apple | Steve Jobs | $1 (One Dollar) | $851m | $24Bn |
| Oracle | Larry Ellison | $61m | $24Bn | $18Bn |
| IBM | Samuel Palmisano | $21m | $74m | $99Bn |
The first thing to note here is that Steve Balmer, Steve Jobs and Larry Elison were founders in their respective companies. I’m assuming Steve Jobs was fired from Apple and lost his stake, now he just has $851m (Unconfirmed speculation about how he has such less stake in Apple) but he is an exception otherwise Founders of Companies are worth the most in this list of CEO’s. (Bill Gates is also a Microsoft Founder though not the CEO but is the Richest Man in the world). The richest non-founding CEO in the list is Eric Schmidt from Google at $6.6Bn
So the rule of the thumb is if you want to DO WELL do an MBA and take up a job and slog it out for the rest of your life and you will do well. If you want to DO REALLY WELL you have to start your own company (Assuming you know what you are doing) and help change the world and then slog it out for the rest of your life. THIS IS MY MESSAGE TO ENTREPRENEURS. Entrepreneurship is difficult and has a psychological aspect of the entrepreneurs social circle. E.g. in India it is considered more respectable to work in a Reputed Company (???) at a salary of $10,000-$40,000pa than trying something on your own. The former is also related to Stability and Sane-ness.
In the table I drew up above it is obvious that everyone who became the CEO due to a JOB (even though they are some of the most reputed, talented and educated people in the world) simply cannot compare to the FOUNDERS OF SUCCESSFUL COMPANIES.
The mantra for Starting up is to normally work in a job for 3-4 years and then startup, unless you have a degree from Harvard Business School, MIT or Stanford. So that you can go back to being considered for a job in a favourable lateral hiring. Contrary to popular opinion 4 years of unsuccessful Entrepreneurship experience is equivalent to Zilch and not even compared to your batchmate who has so called gone through the rigours and stability of a regular job and would be your senior by now. You should know you are risking this.
Other thing I have noticed is that people in Jobs at so called Reputed Companies will have inflated Ego’s while an Entrepreneur has gone through unsuccessfully through a humbling experience.
I could keep on writing more and more but I guess my point is made and you have the above table to show others who are skeptical about being an entrepreneur. Succeeding or Failing is another matter. I have compared Success in a Job vs. Success In a Startup.
1 comments:
Very well said.
After working religiously for MNC's for 6 years,this recession brought me series of surprises.I am a B.Tech from a reputed Indian college.I am finally considering to get along with college buddy with similar aspirations and bring my own business to life.
My social circle has changed a lot after learning this. My family members took it well.Rest others would witness the uprising :).
I am ready to move from "safe" and "sane" to "insane" and "unstable".
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