I'm conflicted as to whether experience is as important as money. It really depends on whether you're planning to stay at your current company long-term. I too

I'm conflicted as to whether experience is as important as money. It really depends on whether you're planning to stay at your current company long-term. I took a rather large pay cut to get my first job. The experience as invaluable. And then I went to another job and saw a huge jump in pay. If I stayed at the first company, I'd have to have seen 400% raise over three years to compare to my current salary. In a business culture where raises are typically a percent of your current salary (plus bonus/RSUs), starting pay and your first couple of raises have an enormous impact on your long-term earning potential at that company. A poorly compensated junior developer becomes a poorly compensated mid-level developer -- unless you start job hopping.