I’ve heard people talk many times about what they think is a good predictor for success, but it’s usually the same old thing. Ambition, intelligence, the list goes on. But this is one that I’ve never heard before. Investor Peter Thiel (PayPal, Facebook, Slide) looks at how much a startup CEO pays himself to help him decide, according to TechCrunch.

At first I thought that was kind of an odd variable to focus on, but after thinking about it for a while it started to make perfect sense. A startup CEO who’s rolling in riches will develop a false sense of security in his or her company. When the money is flowing in freely, it’s easy to feel like your business is already a success, but the reality of it is quite different. Low pay drives that hunger to do more to make your business a success.

I’m not advocating for the type of pay that results in a hungry, homeless entrepreneur; I mean, come on, these people may have families to take care of. But what I think is a bit ridiculous is a startup CEO making more that $100-150k a year running a company that has yet to show signs of success or longevity. Couldn’t some of that excess money be put toward growing the business?

What Thiel is saying is that “it goes to whether the mission of the company is to build something new or just collect paychecks.”

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