3 ms·
> most startup options end up being worth less than the salary that one could’ve gotten at a non-startup I took a lower salary to work at a startup I "believed
by scruple 6y ago
> most startup options end up being worth less than the salary that one could’ve gotten at a non-startup
I took a lower salary to work at a startup I "believed" in. We were eventually acquired and my options were in the low six-figures when exercised. I worked there for 6 years. If I average the options profit and add it to my base salary, I'd have still been underpaid in the local area for my skills and experience level. And that's to say nothing of what the event did to my taxes that year.
> Nothing is worth working like a dog though. That’s always a bad trade.
I never worked like a dog for the place in my story, at least. It had a very sane work/life balance.
- ashtonkem 6y ago> I never worked like a dog for the place in my story, at least. It had a very sane work/life balance. For sure not every single startup overworks it’s employees, and not every overworked employee works at a startup. But there is a very common (but not universal!) trend for startup employees to be encouraged to overwork themselves so that their options will be worth more in the long run. Your mileage may vary, as yours did.
- Kranar 6y agoI don't know how common it actually is. You hear about the startups that overwork employees far more than you hear about startups where people have a good work life balance, but there could be many reasons including the big one being that happy people who live well balanced lives don't tend to talk about it.
- solidasparagus 6y agoStartups tend to have poor engineering management (due to lack of time and experience) and that can easily lead to overworking employees.