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Ask HN: San Fran "Competitive Salary" for Devs

17 points by throwaway09810 15y ago

How much should one ask for for a San Fran "startup" developer position? Midwest salaries are much lower (due to cost of living and small tech scene) and the avg developer makes around $60k, so my reference point is low. Moving to the valley and possibly getting a job for an exploding startup, what is a reasonable starting point w/ 3 years of solid experience?

grandalf 15y ago
I don't think experience matters that much. If you're awesome, you should be paid $100K or more. If you're awesome, btw, I'd like to make you such a job offer.
- throwaway09810 15y ago
  Awesome at what? Solving problems? Check. Dedicating myself to things? Check. Working hard to get things done properly and quickly? Check. Having fun doing these things? Double check. I'm not the best programmer in the world (jr level I'd say), but I sure as hell love what I do and I'm improving every day. Currently my biggest tools are Ruby, Rails, Javascript (jQuery mostly), and HTML/CSS. Half front-end/half back-end dev in my day job. email me: aanon2247@gmail.com if you're interested in talking. note: obviously throwaway accounts
- rick888 15y ago
  are you being serious? How can you be awesome without experience? Otherwise, why not hire a janitor and pay him 100K as a developer (he's awesome!)
  - neworbit 15y ago
    I'm pretty sure he means "can make great things happen" trumps "7 years Java experience on the resume"
    - latch 15y ago
      30 years experience doesn't mean much if it's the same year thirty times.
      - bherms 15y ago
        I'm going to use this quote in the future because it's so true. Hope you don't mind the attribution "a wise man once said [...]"
        latch 15y ago
        I stole it from someone else. maybe "a stupid thief once said [...]"
      - brudgers 15y ago
        It's a good idea in general for small values of x: x years experience doesn't mean much if it's the same year x times Probably true for x < 3 and often true for x < 7. On the other hand, a person still using the same coding skills they had in 1981 probably writes damn tight efficient code...or is a God of COBOL .
shazow 15y ago
Depends on the amount of funding and how much equity you're getting. If they're well-funded (Series A or later) and you're getting negligible equity (hopefully not), then you should take the same salary as an established company like Facebook or Twitter would offer you. Probably a bit over $100k base for 3 years of experience. Take that starting point and adjust it for the amount of equity they're offering and how much you think it's worth. Now your goal is to get them to pay you no less than you're worth. :)
- throwaway09810 15y ago
  Judging worth is not always easy unfortunately. It varies by need, in relation to other benefits, region, and more. I wish there was a simple test to take that would spit out a salary worth... Alas...

grandalf 15y ago

I don't think experience matters that much. If you're awesome, you should be paid $100K or more. If you're awesome, btw, I'd like to make you such a job offer.

throwaway09810 15y ago
Awesome at what? Solving problems? Check. Dedicating myself to things? Check. Working hard to get things done properly and quickly? Check. Having fun doing these things? Double check. I'm not the best programmer in the world (jr level I'd say), but I sure as hell love what I do and I'm improving every day. Currently my biggest tools are Ruby, Rails, Javascript (jQuery mostly), and HTML/CSS. Half front-end/half back-end dev in my day job. email me: aanon2247@gmail.com if you're interested in talking. note: obviously throwaway accounts
rick888 15y ago
are you being serious? How can you be awesome without experience? Otherwise, why not hire a janitor and pay him 100K as a developer (he's awesome!)
- neworbit 15y ago
  I'm pretty sure he means "can make great things happen" trumps "7 years Java experience on the resume"
  - latch 15y ago
    30 years experience doesn't mean much if it's the same year thirty times.
    - bherms 15y ago
      I'm going to use this quote in the future because it's so true. Hope you don't mind the attribution "a wise man once said [...]"
      - latch 15y ago
        I stole it from someone else. maybe "a stupid thief once said [...]"
    - brudgers 15y ago
      It's a good idea in general for small values of x: x years experience doesn't mean much if it's the same year x times Probably true for x < 3 and often true for x < 7. On the other hand, a person still using the same coding skills they had in 1981 probably writes damn tight efficient code...or is a God of COBOL .

shazow 15y ago

Depends on the amount of funding and how much equity you're getting. If they're well-funded (Series A or later) and you're getting negligible equity (hopefully not), then you should take the same salary as an established company like Facebook or Twitter would offer you. Probably a bit over $100k base for 3 years of experience. Take that starting point and adjust it for the amount of equity they're offering and how much you think it's worth. Now your goal is to get them to pay you no less than you're worth. :)

throwaway09810 15y ago
Judging worth is not always easy unfortunately. It varies by need, in relation to other benefits, region, and more. I wish there was a simple test to take that would spit out a salary worth... Alas...