5 ms·
I agree with this. I work at a well-funded startup, but despite the funding, most of us are working for below market wages. I'm employee 22 and my options are
by Osiris 11y ago
I agree with this. I work at a well-funded startup, but despite the funding, most of us are working for below market wages. I'm employee 22 and my options are about 0.02% of outstanding shares.
It's disappointing to me to see so much disparity between the compensation for C-level and VP-level versus engineering. Without engineering, there would be no product to sell and nothing for investors to invest in. Ideas are nice, but implementation is hard.
- harryh 11y agoYou're getting ripped off. We can have a debate about whether "industry norms" are fair or not, and that's an interesting conversation to have. But your stake there is well below industry norms.
- jerguismi 11y agoSometimes the only way to fix that is to quit your job, start your own startup or get another job. Or maybe you should talk to your employer about your point of view, if you haven't done that already? The job market might change on these invidual opinion pieces a little, but on invidiual level the most realistic options are either renegotiations or getting a new job.
- x0x0 11y agoYou can fix that right here: https://angel.co/ https://angel.co/ =P
- johnrob 11y agoSadly, you don't normally get your 'real' offer until you announce intention to leave. This is partly because all hiring processes are flawed and you can't really evaluate an employee until after a few months at least. In the last ditch attempt to keep you (assuming they decide to) you'll see a more true value driven offer.
- bateman 11y agoUgh, I was employee 5-6 and got less than that... I have terrible negotiation skills
- vijayr 11y agoI was a lowly engineer at a huge company with a huge product. It had one product manager whose job was to come up with product features, about a dozen engineers and a tech lead. The product manager was a nice guy, but we (the engineers) consistently used to come up with better, simpler and useful ideas/UI for the product all the time - this was without any of us talking to any of our customers while the PM constantly used to ask/receive feedback from customers (sometimes our ideas would be shot down, only to be accepted in the next release). My boss (tech lead) was making a pittance compared to the PM - without my boss the product would literally come to a standstill. The inequality/unfairness of it all was just sad. I don't see this changing anytime in the near future.
- myth_buster 11y agoThis is sadly the norm in non-software industry where IT is just a peripheral service rather than the core domain. To add insult to injury, Software Engineers are treated as bunch of nerds who are replaceable.
- copsarebastards 11y ago> It's disappointing to me to see so much disparity between the compensation for C-level and VP-level versus engineering. Without engineering, there would be no product to sell and nothing for investors to invest in. Ideas are nice, but implementation is hard. It's exactly what you'd expect when programmers are willing to sell their birthright for lentil stew. Frankly, most C-level executives at a small startups are glorified secretaries taking care of the paperwork for the people who provide most of the actual value. They get paid more because they've played the social game well enough to persuade engineers to work for them instead of the other way around.
- anindyabd 11y agoI work at a big company, and I also consider most C-level executives here to be glorified secretaries. All they ever do is write emails, stare at some charts, and yell at engineers to write code faster. What's most annoying is that sometimes they pretend to understand engineering challenges -- they learn some jargon and start throwing it around. That makes things worse; a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. We engineers are nothing but servants to these people.
- Bostonian 11y agoIf what they do is so easy, and if they are much better paid than programmers, why aren't the programmers doing those jobs instead?
- mbesto 11y ago> We engineers are nothing but servants to these people. Which is funny you say that because apparently the "SV elite" think quite the opposite: https://twitter.com/sama/status/641281287660007424 https://twitter.com/sama/status/641281287660007424
- gaius 11y agoCareer advice from a VC is given with the VC's interest in mind, not yours.
- icedchai 11y agogo ask for more money. today.
- cfontes 11y agoWell quit! The first time I did I was really underpaid and was asking for a 30% increase for a year, after the notice I got a 3x salary increase proposal (which I ditched because of assholiness) Now I am happily employed at a place that pays a very nice salary and I love my job, win win!
- stevoski 11y agoBased on the info you gave here, I'd highly recommend you get some courage together today, and see your boss/major decision maker, tell them: "I am discontent with my current remuneration. I feel I'm not being paid what I'm worth to the company. What can you do about it?" If they don't offer you a significant raise with 24 hours, start applying for other jobs.
- ThrustVectoring 11y ago>If they don't offer you a significant raise with 24 hours, start applying for other jobs. Start applying for other jobs anyways. Schedule on-site interviews more than 24 hours after you talk about getting a raise. If they offer a significant raise, cancel the interviews.
- upstatenewyork 11y agoI'm making between 40-45k at a startup in <username> with 0.2% equity. Software developer #2 (excluding one of the cofounders). I feel like I got ripped off regarding my equity stake after reading this article. This startup has around 12 people working for it now (all of whom are in sales with the exception for us two developers and the tech cofounder). Edit: been with the startup for over 6 months now and have helped design and develop the software as much as you would expect your second engineering employee to.
- a3voices 11y agoIf it's your first job, you should stick it out for a full year and then move to another company for a larger salary.
- throwaway89788 11y agoit's my second job out of college. Worked for a year at a large consulting company.
- a3voices 11y agoOh, I would just find a new job ASAP then.
- throwaway89788 11y agoseriously? I mean upstate new york isn't exactly NYC cost of living wise (and obviously not near SF CoLA) but you think the renumeration is that bad?
- a3voices 11y agoYes, you're being paid severely under market even taking that into consideration. I would probably flat out them them, "I'm going to take an extended break so I can look for a job that doesn't pay 50% less than the market. Hope you understand."