4 ms·

Isn't equity a big deal? I was employee #2 in a just funded startup. I ended up busting my ass the whole time only to realize that my equity was a fraction of

• ojbyrne 19y ago
  I didn't mean to inject my bitch-fest into this thread, my point is that the idea that being a founder is going to lead to a job where you have control and independence, can run into a big road block as soon as you take VC money. It's important to get stuff clear with your co-founders before you sign anything.
  • edw519 19y ago
    What you call a "bitch-fest" I call incredibly valuable data rarely seen here. Since most HN readers will never become part of YN, your experience is extremely apropos. You should seriously consider writing a "Don't Let This Happen to You" piece (a la Philip Greenspun) and posting it here to save others from the same fate. Change the names (including your own) if you like. A post like that could be the single most important thing some hackers ever take away from here.
    • ojbyrne 19y ago
      To paraphrase my lawyer, sometimes companies can be very creative about what the standard "Proprietary Inventions and Information" agreement covers. And any advice I give can basically be summed up as "get your own lawyer early."
      • iamelgringo 19y ago
        No, we totally appreciate your input here, and I think that you'll find that being Digg's first technical guy carries a lot of street cred. Your insight is appreciated. And, even though things may not be looking great for you now, I wouldn't be suprised if you did better for yourself the second time around. Although on a cautionary note, I'd be careful what I post here, because it does tend to get picked up. Comments I've made got picked up by ValleyWag, and that's almost never a good thing.
  • obelix 19y ago
    Got it. Good luck with your startup. I read Jessica Livingston's 'Founders at work' and the story of many co-founders is very similar to what you said.
• electric 19y ago
  "Isn't equity a big deal? I was employee #2 in a just funded startup. I ended up busting my ass the whole time only to realize that my equity was a fraction of what the founders took in." To be fair if you were an employee, i.e. you got paid well I assume? there was less risk on your part relative to the founders. So your equity should be a fraction of what the founders took in. Why would it be otherwise?
  • obelix 19y ago
    Yes, I was paid very well. I loved the team. And I am now at peace with the equity part as well. They earned every single bit of their equity for the risk they took. I was responding to ojbyrne's comments that being a founder is not all hunky-dory since (s)he ended up in the same spot. I suggested at least (s)he got better equity being a founder and that is a big deal. And I still think for a risk/reward outlook, either being a founder or playing it safe until after Series B are the two extremes and are both high in the value / risk ratio.
    • ojbyrne 19y ago
      I'd probably agree with "paid very well", "loved the team", "earned every bit", etc. The problem was that the job went from something I loved (small team, a variety of responsibilities, lots of opportunity) to something I didn't like at all (head-down coding). Which is all I really wanted to point out.