Enough that money stress does not cloud your judgment, and no more. In the early days many founders underpay themselves to stretch runway, which is fine for a while but corrodes decision making if it drags on for years. A workable frame: cover your real fixed costs plus a modest buffer, revisit the number at every raise, and write your salary into the plan you show investors rather than treating it as an afterthought. Underpaying yourself is not a virtue, it is a risk you are quietly carrying.
2 resources, 1 India-specific.
The best reminder that avoiding ruin beats chasing returns, and that wealth is the money you don't spend. The whole founder concentration problem, told as stories.
From The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
A no-nonsense, ad-light India personal-finance site: plain math and free calculators for emergency funds, goals, and asset allocation, with no product to sell you.
From Freefincal by M. Pattabiraman
Open freefincal.com →The same ground, over in Money, pricing & model, our Starting Up track.
