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‘I’m 43 and broke’: Mumbai founder regrets taking ₹12 LPA salary at his startup
Saurabh Garg, 43, reflects on his financial struggles after underpaying himself as a founder.
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Earlier this week, Aroleap founder Aman Rai shared an X post revealing that he took just ₹10 LPA as salary for the first three years of building his home gym startup. Rai expressed regret at this decision, saying that “taking a slightly higher salary does no harm to the startup’s health but can make a world of a change in the founder’s personal life.”
Now, fellow entrepreneur Saurabh Garg has agreed with this take, citing his own example. Garg, co-founder of The Podium and Meru Life, said that he is broke at 43 because he did not take a larger salary when he should have.
“I’m 43. And broke”
Responding to Aman Rai’s post about drawing a low salary as a founder, Saurabh Garg said: “Hard relate. Never raised apart from a tiny fnf at Meru. Never paid myself well.”
He said that apart from a full-and-final payout from Meru, he never took a large salary. According to Garg’s LinkedIn profile, he exited Meru Lifestyle in March 2026.
The Mumbai-based entrepreneur added that the maximum salary he ever drew was ₹12 lakh per annum, writing: “max I’ve taken home is 12 LPA and that too when I ran a services business.”
Today, at 43, he claims that he does not have much to his name. In fact, Garg described his financial situation as “broke”. At the same time, people who worked for him are in a better position because they were not underpaid.
“Now am 43. And broke. Most folks that worked for me got paid market rates. And some more. So they’re ok,” he said in his X post.
“I poured from an empty cup. I wish I hadn’t. Hindsight is sexy,” Garg concluded.
A debate on salaries
Saurabh Garg’s post is part of a larger conversation on salaries that is happening on social media. Users are debating how much founders should pay themselves.
(Also read: Bengaluru founder with ₹5 crore in bank pays himself only ₹50,000 a month, investor calls it a red flag)
“If you are in India your number is 36lpa rising to 48lpa where it should stay until you are able to raise a Series B. I promise you those numbers are very specifically calculated,” X user Kuldeep opined.
“The glorification of the starving founder is so tired. If you burn out the product dies anyway. Paying yourself rent is an operating expense,” another said.
“Founders paying themselves a decent salary hardly makes a difference to success/runway once decently capitalised. Why then the expectation to grossly underpay oneself? Optics?” questioned a user named Arun.
