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The problem is when it doesn't pay off. I'm sure the guys at Heroku think it was a great idea. But look at the 100 other companies that didn't make it. After
by kenjackson 15y ago
The problem is when it doesn't pay off. I'm sure the guys at Heroku think it was a great idea. But look at the 100 other companies that didn't make it.
After your failure, you may be financially behind your peers who did 9 to 6 jobs at traditional tech companies. So you do another and another startup. What was two years of sprinting is now 8 years of it, and at the end the only thing you'll likely have to show is cynicism.
A friend of mine did the expected value math for working at Google vs a startup at typical salaries and bonuses for the two. And for NON-founders you would need to see something like a 75% chance of your employer being acquired or going public in 5 years (there's more to the math, but that was a high level general takeaway).
- aaronbrethorst 15y agoBeing compensated below market rate for sub-founder-level equity is a sucker's game. If you like working at startups (I do), either find one that can pay market rates, or start your own.
- kenjackson 15y agoI completely agree, but it's also extremely common. A lot of people get lured in by the equity. But do the math -- 1% equity on a $10M acquisition is $100k. Even 5% on a $20M acquisition is just $1M. Does anyone have data on how many people made more than $1M on a web start up acquisition or IPO in the past five years? You need to get market rate, or darn close, or founder-level equity.
- aaronbrethorst 15y agoYou need to get market rate, or darn close, or founder-level equity. I have done the math, and I agree 100% :)