If I had to choose one, it would be flexibility and work from home, but only if I had a great team with open communication. I'm very motivated to go the extra mile when I have the freedom to organize my time in the most productive window of the day for me. And knowing that my team and CEO trust me to do the work I have been assigned is genuinely inspiring.

I can see I'm in the minority on this, but here's my reasoning. If your crew doesn't believe in you (and your product), then none of the first three options matter. Why? Because they'll have doubt in the success of the product. That makes the first three options irrelevant. I definitely see flexibility being important, but again if your crew doesn't believe in you, (or your product), then they'll constantly be thinking about another employer in case you go through rough times (which face it - you will), and that's when it's all about the people who believe in the mission and value. Nothing else will matter, and you'll start hemorrhaging staff and you'll start the spiral downward from there.

I will definitely choose flexibility.

as someone early in their career working in entry level roles, mentorship and training will weigh in more. i can imagine financial incentive takes a bigger weight for more experienced roles

Pay for performance if the job function is sales, starting salary below market, upper bound of salary 2x market top KPI based bonuses for technical SMEs stock options for value alignment across all roles Growth opportunities- make people better than they were when they joined Proper pay or flexibility- startups (like mine) dont have the capital to do both at the moment Awesome discussion idea Daniel

All of the above, as you rightly said. Plus, I'm adding another, a bit novel, option to the discussion: A share of future cashflows, like a royalty, limited based on the employee's contributions in the past and the present. This is enabled by VenEx, a SaaS product we just launched to this community today! I'm not sure if this is "the best benefit", but it could be one of the best ways to build motivation and ownership in a way employees can visualize real wealth-creation from the company's growth, esp. if the returns from stock options are too far out and unpredictable. Let us know what you think of it!

The real key, I think, is to customize these things so that you're appealing broadly to employees. First and foremost, invest in them and show them that you as a founder value and trust them. Create a company that values its employees and they will rise to meet the challenges. Of course, incentivizing is important (and tying their interest to those of the company through equity stakes and options is ideal). But, money doesn't matter if they don't feel committed to the company and that only comes through building the relationships and investing in them as individuals.

I think values and making a good and fun working environment. People will leave if they are not happy at work even though they are getting paid well.

Proper recognition, KPI-based bonus, and flexibility of working hours.

I don't think of 'flexibility & wfh' as motivation - more a cultural benefit. For me, the team is the motivating factor. Knowning everyone is pushing as hard as they can to build something amazing is what makes me want to be better.

I think it is better to explicitely distinguish motivated vs just relyable employees. In general people get motivated and encouraged by opporunity of future perks. So if something is not guaranteed by general rules then it can motivate someone to achieve it via doing their job great. KPI-based bonus and value of stock options is not guaranteed so it could motivate employees to work harder whereas salary and work from home is already given to them and is not considered as something that depends on your effort.

Hi Daniel, great question! I believe that most people get the answer wrong. When I was working in the tech industry, the HR department was always trying to make us believe that the ultimate motivation for employees is an amazing company culture. BUT... When the rubber hits the road, nobody cares about company culture. Employees, and people in general, are usually looking for a great answer for the following question: "What's in it for me?" And most of the times? It's financial compensation. Money in their pockets. Food on their tables. Yeah, company mission & values, and work flexibility are nice, but everything has a price. Try to answer this question: Would an employee agree to take a 90% cut in his salary, in order to improve his working conditions? Most likely - not. But: Would an employee agree to reduce his working conditions for a 90% salary raise? Most likely - yes. Obviously, the salary you earn also plays a role. If a person makes $1,000,000 per year, maybe they would not be ready to sacrifice working conditions for a 90% salary raise, because they are very well established and money is not supposed to be an issue. But if a person makes $50,000 - $100,000 per year, a 90% increase is a life-changing amount in most cases. Now, we're not robots, and we do have our needs, and even $1,000,000 per year is something you get used to and then (sometimes) want more. And this is where the culture and work flexibility comes into play. So from my personal experience? Money always comes first, second, and third. Money is the only REAL means of showing REAL appreciation to your employees. Then comes the culture and flexibility and everything else.

Mission and values for sure, this steams into things like giving them leadership or ownership over projects, give them opportunity to see value and then back that

Manager that cares.

For me, when your employees come to the office daily, there must b gratitude for them like you can place a piece of chocolate over their table. It'll motivate them because I'd be happy with this.

I think Flexibility & work from home

Lately, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding WFH, and that's a good thing. However, I think that the real motivation comes from good interpersonal relations in the company, and having everyone work on something they're passionate about. I feel like the second point is especially important, because when looking at things long-term no amount of money, bonuses, or benefits is going to help someone if they don't like what they're doing.

If you can, take them out to lunch or treat them every now and then. Maybe even make them some food, cookies or something, and bring it in. It's a small gesture, but it shows that you care. Another thing would be to stay positive and don't always talk them about work. Keep up with their lives and ask them how their family is and such. Just generally be a nice person. official website

If we are talking about the motivation to join the project, then I'd go for flexibility. If it's about the motivation to do your best day in day out, I've seen stock options do well. To me, it's about the team and the culture - when everyone around you is doing their best, the desire to do the same is contagious.