Where does the money for those salaries come from? Profitability? Funding? If these guys are funded enough to pay salaries and haven't worked out the equity issue, I'd be concerned. If it's profitable enough to pay competitively, will the founders necessarily be seeking a liquidity event?
What I think is, Chicago people should be getting lunch together on a regular basis. Getting drinks once a month worked beautifully --- www.sockpuppet.org/chisec, this is ~30-40 people reliably --- let's set something up for the middle of the day.
Our office is upstairs from the best coffee shop in the loop, and I'll happily buy anyone who comments on HN coffee any time. My contact info's in my profile.
