Rationally, employees can get at most at their replacement cost, more or less. As you have built up experience in your present role and made yourself a 'key ele

Rationally, employees can get at most at their replacement cost, more or less. As you have built up experience in your present role and made yourself a 'key element', you should be compensated more highly than other companies will offer you for the same sort of work. If that's not the case, then you are right that you are underpaid - just accept one of those offers, or negotiate again on that basis. There are plenty of roles in the Bay Area where technical people can make more than 165k with salary being just a part of total compensation - and you can decide how any opportunities you can find line up with your current levels. If you can't get more elsewhere then you should feel better about it :) You could try to demonstrate that you were a key value generator by doing a new startup without the other people who have a slice of this one :) As to whether you deserve it or not, that's a tough one.