6 ms·
We may not be motivated by money, but we all have our price. Would you happily stay at $startup for $200K a year with a 0% chance of acquisition? How about $100
by tgrass 16y ago
We may not be motivated by money, but we all have our price. Would you happily stay at $startup for $200K a year with a 0% chance of acquisition? How about $100K with a 50% chance of acquisition?
Put some numbers to it and you might find you already know the answer.
- throwaway_alt 16y agotwo separate factors here - in isolation, i'd stay at $startup for $200k for another 1.5-2 years, with a 0% chance of acquisition in isolation, but not if it meant giving up a dream job with $co. i'd take a $30k difference in pay to join $co just because it's getting me on the right track for what i want to be doing with my life. and, of course, if we were definitely getting acquired i'd give up the job and stick around for the payoff (~ 2M with a little luck). it's when probabilities come into the mix that my head starts hurting - i think i don't really have the gambling instinct, and if i were deciding this on pure emotion i think i'd just leave, but i'm trying to do the intelligent thing here.
- tgrass 16y agon= the number of years you'd work at $co $requiredCoSalary = the least amount per year you'd need to work at $co (negative if you'd pay to work there) $offeredCoSalary = their offer $requiredStartupSalary = the amount they'd have to pay to keep you if there was no acquisition on the table $offeredStartupSalary = ... E(ROI)=probability of acquisition times the $ of acquisition If [n($offeredCoSalary-$requiredCoSalary)]-[n($requiredStartupSalary-$offeredStartupSalary)]>E(ROI) then take the $co job. (Sorry for formatting - typed on phone)
- throwaway_alt 16y agointeresting way to look at it - forces me to make a realistic estimate of E(ROI)