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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 Do

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
I tried. As I said in another comment, as Chief Software Architect at one company, I built them a bank and added $800 million to their valuation. I asked for more salary and equity and was denied both over the course of 6 months. So I quit. You know what happened? The product failed. They lost all their customers. And they had to scrap it, hire a team of 15, start from scratch, and do a down round where they lost $600 million in valuation. All because they wouldn't give me a raise and more equity. I'VE TRIED!!!!!!!!! I've tried so many times! I've begged and pleaded! I've shown my worth! And every company I leave quickly goes out of business because they don't realize how critical I am. And no one will give me the cash or equity I deserve. So you were saying?
- digi59404 4y ago
  My friend, just because you have the skills and ability. Does not mean you have the tools and opportunity. Just because you think you have the skills, doesn’t mean you do. Operating at that level is less about your technical skills and more about your soft skills. Take this thread for example. You’re getting defensive. I can understand why here. But if you get defensive like this in front of senior leadership. You’re going to lose credibility and trust from them. When you bring them a technical solution that works. They will ignore it because of that. They will also in their minds see less value in your skills. You can be the best software architect in the world. But if you don’t have the soft skills. You won’t be respected as anything other than a replaceable IC.
  - gsibble 4y ago
    Please don't misinterpret my online comments as how I act in real life, lol. I'm very professional. I get fantastic, absolutely stellar performance reviews at every company. At the bank, they were required to put one negative thing on the performance review. You know what the CTO wrote? "Miscapitalized ID in 'cardID' variable name". That was the worst thing they could come up with about my performance. And they still denied me any pay or equity raise. And it cost them $600 million.
    - digi59404 4y ago
      I’m not going to reply to you again after this. So take this to heart. You pushing executive and CTO roles. You no longer have an internet persona and a work persona. They are one. As a CTO you become a brand. That brand is more important than anything. As a CTO, you are almost your own company. A legitimate BOD will not approve bringing you on with posts and history like this. During the due diligence process they will exclude you. The fact you don’t understand this, is a problem The fact you are “professional” doesn’t matter. You are being defensive, and that’s not about outward appearances as you surmise. That’s about problem solving and how you think internally. you felt the need to comment the same thing twice, copy and paste, illustrates you’re very defensive. That is a problem. That was NOT a good performance review. A good performance review is required to have a negative item because if you don’t know the depths of negativity of something. You don’t really know it. You can’t weigh its pros and cons to an unbias and logical end. The fact that they couldn’t come up with more negative things is a failure on their leadership. They’re either not looking deep enough, don’t care to do so, or didn’t want to provide feedback to avoid confrontation. The fact that YOU can’t identify this, the fact that YOU think it’s ok. Is a failure on your leadership and is a problem. The fact that you can’t articulate how or why equity is important. Or how to use it. Is a problem. The fact you’re hung up on them, the fact they didn’t do what you wanted, and that it “cost them 600 million”. This post and it’s comments.. Shows extreme hubris and conceited behavior. That is a problem. The answers you seek my friend are not external. They are internal. Only by being true with yourself, self aware, and knowing your self will you be able to move forward with your career both monetarily and positionally.

gsibble 4y ago

I tried. As I said in another comment, as Chief Software Architect at one company, I built them a bank and added $800 million to their valuation. I asked for more salary and equity and was denied both over the course of 6 months. So I quit. You know what happened? The product failed. They lost all their customers. And they had to scrap it, hire a team of 15, start from scratch, and do a down round where they lost $600 million in valuation. All because they wouldn't give me a raise and more equity. I'VE TRIED!!!!!!!!! I've tried so many times! I've begged and pleaded! I've shown my worth! And every company I leave quickly goes out of business because they don't realize how critical I am. And no one will give me the cash or equity I deserve. So you were saying?

digi59404 4y ago
My friend, just because you have the skills and ability. Does not mean you have the tools and opportunity. Just because you think you have the skills, doesn’t mean you do. Operating at that level is less about your technical skills and more about your soft skills. Take this thread for example. You’re getting defensive. I can understand why here. But if you get defensive like this in front of senior leadership. You’re going to lose credibility and trust from them. When you bring them a technical solution that works. They will ignore it because of that. They will also in their minds see less value in your skills. You can be the best software architect in the world. But if you don’t have the soft skills. You won’t be respected as anything other than a replaceable IC.
- gsibble 4y ago
  Please don't misinterpret my online comments as how I act in real life, lol. I'm very professional. I get fantastic, absolutely stellar performance reviews at every company. At the bank, they were required to put one negative thing on the performance review. You know what the CTO wrote? "Miscapitalized ID in 'cardID' variable name". That was the worst thing they could come up with about my performance. And they still denied me any pay or equity raise. And it cost them $600 million.
  - digi59404 4y ago
    I’m not going to reply to you again after this. So take this to heart. You pushing executive and CTO roles. You no longer have an internet persona and a work persona. They are one. As a CTO you become a brand. That brand is more important than anything. As a CTO, you are almost your own company. A legitimate BOD will not approve bringing you on with posts and history like this. During the due diligence process they will exclude you. The fact you don’t understand this, is a problem The fact you are “professional” doesn’t matter. You are being defensive, and that’s not about outward appearances as you surmise. That’s about problem solving and how you think internally. you felt the need to comment the same thing twice, copy and paste, illustrates you’re very defensive. That is a problem. That was NOT a good performance review. A good performance review is required to have a negative item because if you don’t know the depths of negativity of something. You don’t really know it. You can’t weigh its pros and cons to an unbias and logical end. The fact that they couldn’t come up with more negative things is a failure on their leadership. They’re either not looking deep enough, don’t care to do so, or didn’t want to provide feedback to avoid confrontation. The fact that YOU can’t identify this, the fact that YOU think it’s ok. Is a failure on your leadership and is a problem. The fact that you can’t articulate how or why equity is important. Or how to use it. Is a problem. The fact you’re hung up on them, the fact they didn’t do what you wanted, and that it “cost them 600 million”. This post and it’s comments.. Shows extreme hubris and conceited behavior. That is a problem. The answers you seek my friend are not external. They are internal. Only by being true with yourself, self aware, and knowing your self will you be able to move forward with your career both monetarily and positionally.