Many times I have seen the following happen: a company is running out of money. In order to keep going, the team is going to have to take pay cuts. The Founder & CEO tells the team, ”We’ll have to ‘defer’ your salary. As soon as we raise our next round (or as soon as we sell), we’ll pay you what you have deferred.” This is a mistake, and sometimes a costly one. The word “defer” is a dirty word in the law. Sort of like the word “backdating” (ok, maybe not that bad, but it is s