4 ms·

I don't know what world you live in, but I have yet to see a company which let's anyone reach 2x of their starting salary in less than a decade. Might be becau

I don't know what world you live in, but I have yet to see a company which let's anyone reach 2x of their starting salary in less than a decade. Might be because I'm european, but the idea sounds crazy to me.

tibbetts 5y ago
Depends when in your career, and what the company is doing. I went from my first starting salary of $72k at age 23 (in 2003) as engineer #2 to $150k as chief architect about 5 years later. After another 5 years we sold the company, and I was making better than $300k salary plus bonus in 2013. So that’s two doublings in 10 years. But it’s also probably the exception that proves the rule.
bspammer 5y ago
I'm sure it's harder to get when you're more senior, but I started working as a graduate in London for £30k 3 years ago and am now on £60k. I think this is pretty typical in London.
- Roritharr 5y ago
  Okay if you start THAT low I can see it, but most start at 40-60 here, getting up to 80-120 is used to be at least a decade away.
who_me_qmark 5y ago
I’ve more than doubled my salary every 4 years in Silicon Valley. I’m 11 years in and 16x my starting salary my first year out of college. Yes this includes equity comp, but this is not dominated by appreciation. My current employer stock performance hasn’t been great or even mediocre. But my career growth has ensured that doesn’t matter.
- Roritharr 5y ago
  Silicon Valley is insane, but that's nothing new, when I look at the money offered elsewhere, I really regret not trying harder to move there in my 20s.
- mrtnmcc 5y ago
  2^(11/4) = 6.7x you might want to check the math there :) I guess you could have meant by "more than doubled" as 2.75x, that would work out. Pretty impressive.
- girvo 5y ago
  Within a single company? If so, thats pretty neat.
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  At the same company though?
el_dudowitch 5y ago
Fellow European here. Indeed possible but unlikely. Started working for 43k (Euro) directly out of university. Joined SV startup 2y later with 50% higher salary (60k). Now four four years and one promotion in, almost doubled my salary at 110k. This is also before considering equity.
iwork3jobs 5y ago
Every salary increase I had so far has been 2x. Once I hit a ceiling, I got 2 gigs in paralel, so I 2xed again, I guess. Even so, I did not reach SV income level. I cash in about 100k a year. I am comfortable though.
throwaway_goog 5y ago
I've doubled my compensation every time I switched jobs, plus doubled once through internal promotions, and another 50% increase through stock appreciation since most recent rehire. It's been about 5 doublings over a 20-year career. Most recent employer is in my username, and income history is here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10760918 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10760918 (Plus $630K in 2020 and about $900K in 2021.)
- joebiden2024 5y ago
  God I wish I could make anywhere close to that. I'm 3 years in and my highest TC offer was about $300k at Square. I ended up taking slightly less for a more interesting startup but even that's still just $275k. Life at the bottom rung is not pretty in the slightest!
  - chillacy 5y ago
    I don’t know if this is satirical or not but 275k for 3yoe is near the top of that band (assuming the startup equity is liquid). I think the parent has very generous stock appreciation going on, as $GOOG roughly tripled in the past 3 years
    - joebiden2024 5y ago
      It's not liquid, and probably won't be. I used to be at Amazon and my TC was only $200k.
- actually_a_dog 5y ago
  I believe you. But, the point isn't "is there someone out there who can do it?" The point is "is this typical, and can I do it." And, the answer to the latter is clearly "no."

tibbetts 5y ago

Depends when in your career, and what the company is doing. I went from my first starting salary of $72k at age 23 (in 2003) as engineer #2 to $150k as chief architect about 5 years later. After another 5 years we sold the company, and I was making better than $300k salary plus bonus in 2013. So that’s two doublings in 10 years. But it’s also probably the exception that proves the rule.

bspammer 5y ago

I'm sure it's harder to get when you're more senior, but I started working as a graduate in London for £30k 3 years ago and am now on £60k. I think this is pretty typical in London.

Roritharr 5y ago
Okay if you start THAT low I can see it, but most start at 40-60 here, getting up to 80-120 is used to be at least a decade away.

who_me_qmark 5y ago

I’ve more than doubled my salary every 4 years in Silicon Valley. I’m 11 years in and 16x my starting salary my first year out of college. Yes this includes equity comp, but this is not dominated by appreciation. My current employer stock performance hasn’t been great or even mediocre. But my career growth has ensured that doesn’t matter.

Roritharr 5y ago
Silicon Valley is insane, but that's nothing new, when I look at the money offered elsewhere, I really regret not trying harder to move there in my 20s.
mrtnmcc 5y ago
2^(11/4) = 6.7x you might want to check the math there :) I guess you could have meant by "more than doubled" as 2.75x, that would work out. Pretty impressive.
girvo 5y ago
Within a single company? If so, thats pretty neat.
MattGaiser 5y ago
At the same company though?

el_dudowitch 5y ago

Fellow European here. Indeed possible but unlikely. Started working for 43k (Euro) directly out of university. Joined SV startup 2y later with 50% higher salary (60k). Now four four years and one promotion in, almost doubled my salary at 110k. This is also before considering equity.

iwork3jobs 5y ago

Every salary increase I had so far has been 2x. Once I hit a ceiling, I got 2 gigs in paralel, so I 2xed again, I guess. Even so, I did not reach SV income level. I cash in about 100k a year. I am comfortable though.

throwaway_goog 5y ago

I've doubled my compensation every time I switched jobs, plus doubled once through internal promotions, and another 50% increase through stock appreciation since most recent rehire. It's been about 5 doublings over a 20-year career. Most recent employer is in my username, and income history is here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10760918 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10760918 (Plus $630K in 2020 and about $900K in 2021.)

joebiden2024 5y ago
God I wish I could make anywhere close to that. I'm 3 years in and my highest TC offer was about $300k at Square. I ended up taking slightly less for a more interesting startup but even that's still just $275k. Life at the bottom rung is not pretty in the slightest!
- chillacy 5y ago
  I don’t know if this is satirical or not but 275k for 3yoe is near the top of that band (assuming the startup equity is liquid). I think the parent has very generous stock appreciation going on, as $GOOG roughly tripled in the past 3 years
  - joebiden2024 5y ago
    It's not liquid, and probably won't be. I used to be at Amazon and my TC was only $200k.
actually_a_dog 5y ago
I believe you. But, the point isn't "is there someone out there who can do it?" The point is "is this typical, and can I do it." And, the answer to the latter is clearly "no."