I'm at a small startup as a principal software architect. I'm as senior as they come, with over 35 years of hands-on software development experience, including mostly project, team, and enterprise-wide leadership & mentorship activities. The startup is well funded with good future prospects, according to our CEO. We started from absolute zero to successfully completing our first PoC with a large customer.

I'm wondering what folks out there are seeing with respect to cost of living/inflationary raises. According to https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm, the salary when I started is worth over 8% less than today.

My offer letter included a mutually agreed upon raise schedule over the course of two years, conditionally based on my performance & company resources. My performance has been good. As an aside, we have no bonus program, but we all have been granted a generous options offering that vests over 3 years, with around 1.5 years remaining to full vestment.

I have not received a raise in 2.5 years, because the CEO is citing two reasons. First, that I'm the most highly paid employee, and second, that, of course, the company hasn't had the resources.

I've asked for a 12.5% raise, citing good performance, hiring an excellent team, bringing in a very large corporate partner, and inflation. I feel that being the most highly paid employee is irrelevant. We don't have visibility, despite being a very small startup, into our financials. The only information we get is how much runway we still have, and it's in the two or three year range, based on no further sales. Obviously, as we make sales, we'll hopefully have not only more runway, but also it must be tempered because we'll have to grow.

I'm not even sure what my question is, so I'll throw a few out there. Am I justified in requesting a raise? Is it an unreasonable amount? What would you do in this situation?

Appreciate your thoughtful insight. Thanks in advance!