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I would red flag on this. They may sweet talk you with optimistic scenarios, flatter you with C level job titles... but apparently you are the entire tech team

I would red flag on this. They may sweet talk you with optimistic scenarios, flatter you with C level job titles... but apparently you are the entire tech team right now, and they're not prepared to even pay you market rates. Factor in the pessimistic view: if they can't afford you now, is the business growing or struggling? What if that equity is worthless, or unable to be liquidated? What happens if they decide down the track to "replace" you with someone else, will you get to keep your equity or does that evaporate? Do you really see this company as your life's work, or would you be happier consulting for different companies at increasingly higher rates and doing your own thing instead? I really hope I'm being overly pessimistic, I just feel I've heard this story before.

gwbas1c 11y ago
In my experience in startup culture, CTOs are in high demand. A lot of "entrepreneurs" just don't appreciate this aspect of the supply/demand in finding technical people to work with. IMO, if you haven't already, spend an unpaid day or two fleshing out the overall business from a technical perspective. Most likely, the leader will have some invalid assumptions. How does the leader react to these assumptions? Are you able to steer each other in a better direction? If you are going to do a short-term consultant role before becoming CTO; it's primarily to protect each other. If things fall apart, you walk away with cash, and it avoids equity problems for the company. (Lots of different people having tiny amounts of equity can complicate things.) Therefore, you should only get equity once you all agree that you're CTO. When you're a consultant, you should get cash. Specifically, you should agree on what your rate should be, and then what you're "I like you guys" discount is. You could even put in some kind of clause like "Your discount is good until [date]" to protect yourself in case they decide that they like your labor, but want someone else as CTO.

gwbas1c 11y ago

In my experience in startup culture, CTOs are in high demand. A lot of "entrepreneurs" just don't appreciate this aspect of the supply/demand in finding technical people to work with. IMO, if you haven't already, spend an unpaid day or two fleshing out the overall business from a technical perspective. Most likely, the leader will have some invalid assumptions. How does the leader react to these assumptions? Are you able to steer each other in a better direction? If you are going to do a short-term consultant role before becoming CTO; it's primarily to protect each other. If things fall apart, you walk away with cash, and it avoids equity problems for the company. (Lots of different people having tiny amounts of equity can complicate things.) Therefore, you should only get equity once you all agree that you're CTO. When you're a consultant, you should get cash. Specifically, you should agree on what your rate should be, and then what you're "I like you guys" discount is. You could even put in some kind of clause like "Your discount is good until [date]" to protect yourself in case they decide that they like your labor, but want someone else as CTO.