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It's a frustrating and uncertain place to be as a founder. You're being paid peanuts compared to what you could be making in the industry (generally your comp

It's a frustrating and uncertain place to be as a founder. You're being paid peanuts compared to what you could be making in the industry (generally your comp is garbage until maybe Series C) and your equity is already as good as it's ever going to get, so some reasons to stay behind are: 1. you're really enjoying the gig 2. you think that by you staying behind, the overall worth of your equity will be higher than by having someone else take over 3. you think that quitting at that stage will be a permanent black mark on your record, the captain abandoned the ship 4. you're totally out of money after years of trying to make ends meet with a startup founder gig, so you can't start a new company without spending a year or two working for someone else first There's real opportunity cost to sticking around. You could be starting a new business and begin another 4 year vesting countdown there. Maybe you're ok working for someone else, you could be at Google collecting a 1/2M paycheck, feeling like you're on vacation compared to a growth stage CEO job. Maybe you just want to take a breather and actually have time for your spouse and kids for a little bit, before another dive. Tricky spot.

jchendy 8y ago
> you could be at Google collecting a 1/2M paycheck That's director-level compensation. Would somebody whose only experience is 4-5 years of running a startup be hired straight into a director role?
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- 8f2ab37a-ed6c 8y ago
  If you interview well and have competing offers from large firms that shell out good cash, you can get that as a senior dev. Networking helps a lot, if you have the right friends working there, they'll make sure you interview with the right people.
  - morgante 8y ago
    1-2M is way above market for a "senior dev." Even for the top companies, that tier is reserved for truly outstanding performers who have launched major projects/innovations.
    - itake 8y ago
      he said 1/2M or 500k, not 1-2M. I have a friend that is senior dev at FB with 550k total comp (pre-recent crashes). He is just really good at interviewing.
    - fierro 8y ago
      Yeah he said 500k. I Initially thought the same as you, 1-2mil. 500k for a senior dev is actually not too far out there. I have an L3 friend at Google (l3 is new hire level) who has been at the company for almost 2 years and who's total comp is almost 300k. So some L5s and L6s could certainly be pulling in 500k.
- random314 8y ago
  Oh my sweet summer child :) https://www.levels.fyi/SE/Google/Facebook/Microsoft https://www.levels.fyi/SE/Google/Facebook/Microsoft
  - GeneralMayhem 8y ago
    That link doesn't support the claim of "1/2M paycheck". L7, the first point at which there's a reported total comp over $1M, is a fairly senior position at Google. If you can walk in at L7, it probably means you've already "made it" somewhere else.
    - random314 8y ago
      I interpreted 1/2M as 0.5M. As did some other folks.
      - falsedan 8y ago
        I interpreted it as “1 or 2” and then “oh that’s too high for dev, probably that should be read as ½/0.5”
        fierro 8y ago
        Precisely
- landon32 8y ago
  Keep in mind some founders have had careers before starting a company (average age of YC founders is like early 30s?) so they might have 10 years experience leading teams + some significant victories that came from their startup. If someone fresh out of college just worked 5 years on their startup and then abandoned ship they probably wouldn't get a very impressive role unless their startup was a crazy fast success though.
- sbilstein 8y ago
  Depends on the size and success of your team. I’ve seen startup acquisitions land the CTO: tech lead, eng manager, senior eng manager, and director.
donkeyd 8y ago
I'm in a similar tough spot, I'm the technical founder and am about to leave the company for health reasons. The difference between my case and what's described here, is that my salary isn't too bad (for Dutch standards) and that the investors are best described as angel investors. The fact that they are angels makes everything more personal though. And with the current market, getting someone with my set of skills to replace me at a decent rate is going to be near impossible. It's a really tough spot, but in the end mental health is most important.

jchendy 8y ago

> you could be at Google collecting a 1/2M paycheck That's director-level compensation. Would somebody whose only experience is 4-5 years of running a startup be hired straight into a director role?

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
8f2ab37a-ed6c 8y ago
If you interview well and have competing offers from large firms that shell out good cash, you can get that as a senior dev. Networking helps a lot, if you have the right friends working there, they'll make sure you interview with the right people.
- morgante 8y ago
  1-2M is way above market for a "senior dev." Even for the top companies, that tier is reserved for truly outstanding performers who have launched major projects/innovations.
  - itake 8y ago
    he said 1/2M or 500k, not 1-2M. I have a friend that is senior dev at FB with 550k total comp (pre-recent crashes). He is just really good at interviewing.
  - fierro 8y ago
    Yeah he said 500k. I Initially thought the same as you, 1-2mil. 500k for a senior dev is actually not too far out there. I have an L3 friend at Google (l3 is new hire level) who has been at the company for almost 2 years and who's total comp is almost 300k. So some L5s and L6s could certainly be pulling in 500k.
random314 8y ago
Oh my sweet summer child :) https://www.levels.fyi/SE/Google/Facebook/Microsoft https://www.levels.fyi/SE/Google/Facebook/Microsoft
- GeneralMayhem 8y ago
  That link doesn't support the claim of "1/2M paycheck". L7, the first point at which there's a reported total comp over $1M, is a fairly senior position at Google. If you can walk in at L7, it probably means you've already "made it" somewhere else.
  - random314 8y ago
    I interpreted 1/2M as 0.5M. As did some other folks.
    - falsedan 8y ago
      I interpreted it as “1 or 2” and then “oh that’s too high for dev, probably that should be read as ½/0.5”
      - fierro 8y ago
        Precisely
landon32 8y ago
Keep in mind some founders have had careers before starting a company (average age of YC founders is like early 30s?) so they might have 10 years experience leading teams + some significant victories that came from their startup. If someone fresh out of college just worked 5 years on their startup and then abandoned ship they probably wouldn't get a very impressive role unless their startup was a crazy fast success though.
sbilstein 8y ago
Depends on the size and success of your team. I’ve seen startup acquisitions land the CTO: tech lead, eng manager, senior eng manager, and director.

donkeyd 8y ago

I'm in a similar tough spot, I'm the technical founder and am about to leave the company for health reasons. The difference between my case and what's described here, is that my salary isn't too bad (for Dutch standards) and that the investors are best described as angel investors. The fact that they are angels makes everything more personal though. And with the current market, getting someone with my set of skills to replace me at a decent rate is going to be near impossible. It's a really tough spot, but in the end mental health is most important.