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Pilot’s 2025 Founder Salary Report Reveals 43% Drop in Founder Compensation as Capital Efficiency Takes Center Stage

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The leading accounting firm’s annual report shows dramatic shift in founder compensation as capital efficiency and fewer VC funding opportunities become available

SAN FRANCISCO, April 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Pilot,  the leading accounting firm for startups and small businesses, today released its annual Founder Salary Report, revealing a dramatic 43% decrease in median founder compensation over the past year. Based on data from nearly 2,000 founders, the report highlights a fundamental shift in how startup leaders are approaching personal compensation in today’s more challenging funding environment.

“The data is super clear—founders are rethinking compensation,” said Waseem Daher, co-founder & executive chair of Pilot. “We’re seeing founders make smarter calls to extend runway while figuring out reasonable personal compensation. It’s a stark contrast to previous years and signals an ecosystem getting serious about financial discipline—which is exactly what should be happening.”

Key findings from the 2025 Founder Salary Report include:

Median founder salaries dropped 43%: The median founder salary fell from $132,000 in 2024 to $75,000 in 2025, with nearly twice as many founders (60%, up from 37%) now paying themselves less than $100,000 annually.Fewer founders taking zero salary: Only 5.4% of founders reported taking no salary, down from 9% last year. Founder salaries are down as venture capital (VC) is harder to come by, time between rounds is expanding, and bootstrapping is up. When founders invest their own money or funds from family and friends, they typically opt for lower salaries to fund operations, particularly when they believe in the long-term equity outcomes.AI startups buck the trend: In contrast to the overall decline, founders of AI startups (now representing 40% of respondents, up from 14% last year) report higher median compensation of $90,000, reflecting continued investor enthusiasm for the sector. Though like all salaries, AI founder salaries are lower than they were last year.Bootstrapping on the rise: The percentage of bootstrapped companies increased 77% from last year, now representing 18% of surveyed founders, as more entrepreneurs choose self-funding in today’s challenging venture capital environment.

Most founders (31%) reported setting their salaries based primarily on “what the startup can afford,” while those who benchmarked against market rates earned 79% more on average.

“Understanding where you fit in today’s capital-efficient landscape is how you build companies that survive when things get tough,” added Daher. “This isn’t just about cutting costs—it’s about making strategic decisions that balance personal sustainability with runway preservation.”

The 2025 Founder Salary Report is based on responses from 1,844 founders across various industries, funding stages, and geographic regions. The full report includes detailed breakdowns by industry, company size, company phase, funding level, and geographic location.

To download the complete report, visit pilot.com/fsr.

About Pilot

Pilot is an accounting firm that specializes in providing expert bookkeeping, tax preparation, and CFO services specifically designed for startups and small businesses. Headquartered in San Francisco and Nashville, Pilot brings together U.S.-based finance experts and cutting-edge technology to deliver trustworthy financials and actionable insights, helping founders and business owners focus on what they do best—growing their businesses.

Media Contact 

Sarah Evans
sarah@zenmedia.com

Alexandria Hurley
alexandria@zenmedia.com

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SOURCE Pilot

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HUYA Inc. to Report Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results on Tuesday, November 17, 2026

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-Earnings Webinar Scheduled for 5:00 a.m. ET on November 17, 2026-

GUANGZHOU, China, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — HUYA Inc. (“Huya” or the “Company”) (NYSE: HUYA), a leading game-related entertainment and services provider, today announced that it will report its third quarter 2026 unaudited financial results on Tuesday, November 17, 2026, before the open of U.S. markets.

The Company’s management will host a Tencent Meeting Webinar at 5:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time on November 17, 2026 (6:00 p.m. Beijing/Hong Kong time on November 17, 2026), to review and discuss the Company’s business and financial performance.

For participants who wish to join the webinar, please complete the online registration in advance using the links provided below. Upon registration, participants will receive an email with webinar access information, including meeting ID, meeting link, dial-in numbers, and a unique attendee ID to join the webinar.

Participant Online Registration

A live webcast of the webinar will be accessible at https://ir.huya.com, and a replay of the webcast will be available following the session.

[1] For the purpose of this announcement only, Chinese Mainland excludes the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, and Taiwan.

About HUYA Inc.

HUYA Inc. is a leading game-related entertainment and services provider. Huya delivers dynamic live streaming and video content and a rich array of services spanning games, e-sports, and other interactive entertainment genres to a large, highly engaged community of game enthusiasts. Huya has cultivated a robust entertainment ecosystem powered by AI and other advanced technologies, serving users and partners across the gaming universe, including game companies, e-sports tournament organizers, broadcasters and talent agencies. Leveraging this strong foundation, Huya has also expanded into innovative game-related services, such as game distribution, in-game item sales, advertising and more. Huya continues to extend its footprint in China and abroad, meeting the evolving needs of gamers, content creators, and industry partners worldwide.

For more information, please visit: https://ir.huya.com.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:

HUYA Inc.
Investor Relations
Tel: +86-757-6681-1975
E-mail: ir@huya.com

Piacente Financial Communications
Jenny Cai
Tel: +86-10-6508-0677
E-mail: huya@tpg-ir.com

In the United States:

Piacente Financial Communications
Brandi Piacente
Tel: +1-212-481-2050
E-mail: huya@tpg-ir.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/huya-inc-to-report-third-quarter-2026-financial-results-on-tuesday-november-17-2026-302920241.html

SOURCE HUYA Inc.

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MEXC and Hacken Launch AI Trading Safety Handbook to Promote Safer AI Adoption

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MUTSAMUDU, Comoros, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — MEXC, a pioneer in 0-fee digital asset trading, and blockchain security, compliance, and regulatory assurance partner Hacken, have released the MEXC × Hacken AI Trading Safety Handbook, providing practical guidance on how users and platforms can use and deploy AI-assisted and automated trading tools more safely, from research and decision support through trade execution.

The handbook follows the recent MEXC AI Trading Report, which found strong interest in AI alongside clear demand for greater control. In MEXC’s 2026 survey, willingness to use automated trading rose from 55% to 71.8% when limits on funds, positions, leverage and losses were introduced.

As AI takes a more active role in trading, the handbook emphasizes that safety cannot rely on the AI model alone. AI-facilitated actions should be checked against separate permissions, financial limits and risk controls before execution. It covers risks including credential exposure, excessive permissions, manipulated data and unintended execution, while outlining practical safeguards for both users and platforms.

For users, the handbook sets out five safety checks: Ask, Verify, Limit, Control and Review. For platforms, it outlines five principles: Guard, Limit, Approve, Controls and Test. Together, they provide a practical framework for expanding the use of AI while keeping appropriate controls in place.

“AI can make trading more accessible and efficient, but greater capability should come with stronger safeguards,” said Vugar Usi Zade, CEO of MEXC. “At MEXC, we want users to benefit from innovation, while taking a measured approach to AI adoption. Our People First principle means giving users access to new capabilities without losing sight of control, transparency and risk.”

“AI agents will soon place more orders than people do. Trust in them should be earned the way smart contracts earned it: through independent controls, continuous red-teaming and evidence anyone can verify,” said Dyma Budorin, CEO and co-founder of Hacken. “This handbook is intended to raise awareness of those risks and provide practical support for both users and platforms. As adoption grows, platforms will need to test these safeguards continuously and strengthen them as new risks emerge.”

MEXC and Hacken hope the handbook can serve as a practical reference for users and platforms as AI becomes more deeply integrated into trading, helping raise risk awareness and support safer, more responsible adoption across the industry.

About MEXC

Founded in 2018, MEXC is a leading global multi-asset trading platform built as your 0-fee gateway to infinite opportunities. Serving users across 170+ markets, MEXC provides simple and efficient access to crypto, stocks, tokenized assets, derivatives, and a growing range of TradFi-linked opportunities through one account and one gateway.

With 0 trading fees, deep liquidity, broad asset coverage, and a high-performance trading experience, MEXC is designed for retail users who want to discover earlier, act faster, and trade with fewer barriers. As crypto and traditional finance continue to converge, MEXC is committed to making global opportunities more accessible, helping users trade freely and MEXCmize every opportunity.

MEXC Official Website| X | Telegram |How to Sign Up on MEXC

About Hacken

Hacken is a security and assurance partner for financial institutions and the infrastructure they rely on: exchanges, ecosystems, custodians, banks, asset managers, and tokenization platforms. Hacken’s AI security work includes AI agent security audits and red-teaming of AI systems.

Founded in 2017, Hacken has 60+ engineers and more than 1,500 clients across industries, including the European Commission, ADGM, Ethereum Foundation, Societe Generale-Forge, MetaMask, and Bybit.

Hacken website | X | LinkedIn

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SOURCE MEXC

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Renoworks Appoints SaaS Sales Executive Madan Murthy as Vice President of Sales

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Strategic appointment strengthens enterprise sales capabilities to accelerate growth and market adoption of renoworks.ai

CALGARY, AB, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Renoworks Software Inc. (TSXV: RW) (OTC: ROWKF) (“Renoworks” or the “Company”), an industry leader in AI-powered visualization, design and lead-generation technology for the building products industry, today announced the appointment of Madan Murthy as Vice President of Sales. The appointment supports initial positive feedback from existing clients of renoworks.ai, which now requires more sales resources to move faster.

Mr. Murthy brings more than 25 years of experience building and scaling business-to-business technology and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) organizations, with a demonstrated track record of accelerating revenue growth, acquiring enterprise customers and developing high-performing sales organizations across international markets.

The appointment comes as Renoworks enters a new phase of growth following the launch of renoworks.ai, its next-generation AI-native platform combining photorealistic visualization, product intelligence, homeowner engagement, lead generation and data analytics. The Company believes this expanded offering creates significant opportunities to deepen relationships with existing customers and attract new manufacturers, distributors, retailers and contractors seeking to leverage AI to improve customer engagement and drive sales.

“The launch of renoworks.ai represents an important step forward in our growth strategy, and we believe the opportunity to expand our market presence has never been greater,” said Doug Vickerson, Chief Executive Officer of Renoworks. “Following recent introductions of these new capabilities to the building products industry, it is evident that it is now time to strengthen our enterprise sales organization. Madan brings extensive experience scaling SaaS businesses, winning major enterprise accounts and building repeatable sales processes. His proven ability to translate innovative technology into sustainable revenue growth makes him an excellent addition to our leadership team.”

Throughout his career, Mr. Murthy has contributed to significant revenue growth across multiple technology organizations. His accomplishments include helping scale a business from $50 million to $225 million in revenue while increasing new-customer opportunity-to-close rates from 8% to 35% and improving customer retention to 98%. He has also helped grow an early-stage software company’s SaaS business to $25 million in recurring revenue, secured Fortune 500 customers and built and led a 30-person international sales organization spanning North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

In his new role, Mr. Murthy will focus on expanding Renoworks’ enterprise customer base, developing new market opportunities and accelerating adoption of renoworks.ai. He will work closely with the Company’s existing business development, marketing and customer success teams to strengthen its sales pipeline, enhance go-to-market execution and support long-term recurring revenue growth.

“I am excited to join Renoworks at such an important stage in its evolution,” said Madan Murthy, Vice President of Sales. “The combination of Renoworks’ established relationships across the building products industry, deep product expertise and its new AI-native platform creates a compelling opportunity for growth. I look forward to working with the team to expand our enterprise presence, develop new customer relationships and help bring the benefits of renoworks.ai to a broader market.”

About Renoworks

Renoworks Software Inc. (TSXV: RW) (OTC: ROWKF) develops and markets AI-powered software solutions for the home remodeling and new home construction industries. The Company provides manufacturers, contractors, builders and retailers with innovative digital solutions that help homeowners visualize building products on their homes, make more informed purchasing decisions and connect with industry professionals.

Through its next-generation renoworks.ai platform, the Company is expanding beyond traditional visualization to deliver advanced AI-driven design capabilities, product intelligence, lead generation, data analytics and integrated sales workflows. These solutions help industry participants enhance customer engagement, streamline the remodeling process and increase sales opportunities.

Renoworks generates revenue through its primary business lines, including Renoworks Enterprise, Renoworks PRO, Renoworks Design Services and Renoworks API.

For more information, visit www.renoworks.com and www.renoworkspro.com.

Forward Looking Information

Certain statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information that involves various risks and uncertainties. Such statements relating to, among other things, the prospects for the Company to enhance operating results, expand adoption of its AI-powered platform and introduce new software capabilities, are necessarily subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which are significant in scope and nature. These uncertainties may cause actual results to differ from information contained herein. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice.

The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions change, except as required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

 

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SOURCE RenoWorks Software Inc.

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