Certainly you can get a considerable amount of salary, depending on your angle of working in a startup. In the recent career changes, I often look at 1-2 years

Certainly you can get a considerable amount of salary, depending on your angle of working in a startup. In the recent career changes, I often look at 1-2 years old start-up where tech side has been rather stagnant. My angle is clear -> getting stuffs done, move the tech forward and make sure it is aligned with the company's direction But this is not enough for founders to have a peace of mind regarding your commitment. - If you have already built a reputation, then that's enough for you to argue for a market rate salary. - Else you would need to trade for some equity. What are you getting out of this compared to a corp job: - The work is likely more interesting. - Away from corporate landscape (if that's not your thing) - Gaining experience in new domain, doing thing in new ways.