I think that if a company cannot have employee-friendly policies in its infancy, it probably will not choose to implement them once it reaches adulthood.
If you only have 12 employee-months of runway, then you should not plan such that you need the whole thing. Parental leave is not the only uncontrollable circumstance that could be disastrous for your company. Your lead developer could get colon cancer. Your salesperson could jump ship without notice. Your co-founder could embezzle 20% of the investment capital. A patent troll could shake you down.
It boils down to a rather simple question. Would you rather fail with your ethics intact, or get money-rich by being an asshole?
If you only have 12 employee-months of runway, then you should not plan such that you need the whole thing. Parental leave is not the only uncontrollable circumstance that could be disastrous for your company. Your lead developer could get colon cancer. Your salesperson could jump ship without notice. Your co-founder could embezzle 20% of the investment capital. A patent troll could shake you down.
It boils down to a rather simple question. Would you rather fail with your ethics intact, or get money-rich by being an asshole?