5 ms·

Contributing factors: - Equity from 12 jobs in 15 years(?!) - Heavy weighting toward early stage companies How often is this person jumping ship?? Seemingly

by nrb 4y ago

Contributing factors: - Equity from 12 jobs in 15 years(?!) - Heavy weighting toward early stage companies How often is this person jumping ship?? Seemingly right when they’d be positioned for merit increases, too. I think there’s a real lesson in here somewhere about company selection, and honestly: overall attitude. 200k+ salary is _wage slavery_? Come on.

gsibble 4y ago
How do you send 3 kids to private school and college on $200k?
- nrb 4y ago
  Eh, justify it however you need to. Being more selective about which companies you choose, and contributing meaningfully to those companies, would have blown past that 200k after just a few years even as a staff engineer at any company paying in the top quartile (well outside of the maddening environment of FAANG)
  - gsibble 4y ago
    I built a bank that directly raised a company's valuation by $800 million, and they wouldn't give me a raise.
    - digi59404 4y ago
      At the executive level, that high up. You don’t get paid in salary. You get paid in equity. Your negotiations should be around equity and its valuations. You should be arguing for compensation packages of “if I grow x by y. You give me Z in equity.” I am not an executive. I am cashing out over 500k in equity, and a yearly salary of 250k+ per year as an independent contributor. Last year my income cleared 400k. Your focus on salary; and not on VALUE, negotiations, equity, vesting, growth, and goals are what’s holding you back. Once you hit that, then you need to change how you use money. Such as negotiating that equity be deposited in a self-directed IRA to sell it, and invest it with little tax penalty. At 200k in most areas of the United States you could have paid off a house in a year. If you’ve made 200k a year for 10 years; banking 50k of that in an index fund would have paid big dividends. Let alone using 50k on a construction loan to build a multi family house. Then rent that out providing affordable housing to folks. Or even, just pledging your equity as collateral to get the loan. You’re not a wage slave. But you’re acting like you are one. Stop, you have access to more resources than the probably 5% of America. Use those tools, change your mindset, get a proper accountant, and do some personal planning and growth.
      - gsibble 4y ago
        I live in San Francisco man. Houses cost $1.5-4 million. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to live here? Maybe that's what's missing from the context.
        digi59404 4y ago
        Absolutely. In 2012 I lived in Antioch/Pittsburg and made 13$/Hour. I live in TN now and own an entire mountain for a fraction of that cost. Yet, I can be in Downtown SF in 6 hours. Even if I was in SF. That doesn’t mean you have to live on the peninsula. And yes; I fully understand the opportunity cost of not being in the heart of SF. My point here isn’t to be a dick of judgemental. Even if my tone may be that way. It’s to explain that I think you’re missing the bigger picture here and you’re missing some information. Your equity should be worth way more. Even if the cash value is low, equity can be leveraged in funny ways to provide value that’s not monetary. I don’t think I’ve met a CTO/CFO that has a compensation plan that is north of 250k in salary. Yet, I was behind a CFO a few years back who literally bought a house in France with equity. When you hit the levels and roles you’ve held. When you hit 200k+ income. The entire game changes. There’s a point from around 0-80k/year where the rules are one way. From 80-200k where the rules are another way. 200k+ the game is entirely different. I’ve been through each stage and had to learn it. At 200k+ as an executive. You have way more tools at your disposal than you would at IC sub 200k levels. I sat at a bar two weeks ago with a CTO who made south of 200k/year. Who just bought his third house that was north of a million dollars, this became his spring house in Hilton Head SC. The value of money is not always in dollar amounts. From this post and some of your comments here that seems like what you’re focused on. It may not be, but I really encourage you to explore this topic more. You may be the best fucking CTO in SF. But if you can’t articulate, negotiate, and get what your real value is, in a structured deal. You’re just going to be leaving money at the table. As CTO you wield immense power, with the org, and the board. Your position guarantees you a seat at the table with an audience. Use it to your advantage to get the value you deserve, and use it to make sure they know that the toxic culture they perpetuate will cause a loss in value of the company.
        gsibble 4y ago

by nrb 4y ago

gsibble 4y ago

How do you send 3 kids to private school and college on $200k?

nrb 4y ago
Eh, justify it however you need to. Being more selective about which companies you choose, and contributing meaningfully to those companies, would have blown past that 200k after just a few years even as a staff engineer at any company paying in the top quartile (well outside of the maddening environment of FAANG)
- gsibble 4y ago
  I built a bank that directly raised a company's valuation by $800 million, and they wouldn't give me a raise.
  - digi59404 4y ago
    At the executive level, that high up. You don’t get paid in salary. You get paid in equity. Your negotiations should be around equity and its valuations. You should be arguing for compensation packages of “if I grow x by y. You give me Z in equity.” I am not an executive. I am cashing out over 500k in equity, and a yearly salary of 250k+ per year as an independent contributor. Last year my income cleared 400k. Your focus on salary; and not on VALUE, negotiations, equity, vesting, growth, and goals are what’s holding you back. Once you hit that, then you need to change how you use money. Such as negotiating that equity be deposited in a self-directed IRA to sell it, and invest it with little tax penalty. At 200k in most areas of the United States you could have paid off a house in a year. If you’ve made 200k a year for 10 years; banking 50k of that in an index fund would have paid big dividends. Let alone using 50k on a construction loan to build a multi family house. Then rent that out providing affordable housing to folks. Or even, just pledging your equity as collateral to get the loan. You’re not a wage slave. But you’re acting like you are one. Stop, you have access to more resources than the probably 5% of America. Use those tools, change your mindset, get a proper accountant, and do some personal planning and growth.
    - gsibble 4y ago
      I live in San Francisco man. Houses cost $1.5-4 million. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to live here? Maybe that's what's missing from the context.
      - digi59404 4y ago
        Absolutely. In 2012 I lived in Antioch/Pittsburg and made 13$/Hour. I live in TN now and own an entire mountain for a fraction of that cost. Yet, I can be in Downtown SF in 6 hours. Even if I was in SF. That doesn’t mean you have to live on the peninsula. And yes; I fully understand the opportunity cost of not being in the heart of SF. My point here isn’t to be a dick of judgemental. Even if my tone may be that way. It’s to explain that I think you’re missing the bigger picture here and you’re missing some information. Your equity should be worth way more. Even if the cash value is low, equity can be leveraged in funny ways to provide value that’s not monetary. I don’t think I’ve met a CTO/CFO that has a compensation plan that is north of 250k in salary. Yet, I was behind a CFO a few years back who literally bought a house in France with equity. When you hit the levels and roles you’ve held. When you hit 200k+ income. The entire game changes. There’s a point from around 0-80k/year where the rules are one way. From 80-200k where the rules are another way. 200k+ the game is entirely different. I’ve been through each stage and had to learn it. At 200k+ as an executive. You have way more tools at your disposal than you would at IC sub 200k levels. I sat at a bar two weeks ago with a CTO who made south of 200k/year. Who just bought his third house that was north of a million dollars, this became his spring house in Hilton Head SC. The value of money is not always in dollar amounts. From this post and some of your comments here that seems like what you’re focused on. It may not be, but I really encourage you to explore this topic more. You may be the best fucking CTO in SF. But if you can’t articulate, negotiate, and get what your real value is, in a structured deal. You’re just going to be leaving money at the table. As CTO you wield immense power, with the org, and the board. Your position guarantees you a seat at the table with an audience. Use it to your advantage to get the value you deserve, and use it to make sure they know that the toxic culture they perpetuate will cause a loss in value of the company.
        gsibble 4y ago