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I took the survey and rated equity/options pretty low. My rationale (which may very well be wrong): 1) Options offerings are typically a fraction of 1%: even
by spamizbad 15y ago
I took the survey and rated equity/options pretty low. My rationale (which may very well be wrong):
1) Options offerings are typically a fraction of 1%: even for the first engineer at companies with no technical co-founders. This (I think) is a carry-over from the dot-com era where IPO exits came hot and heavy. These days, if you're lucky, you're looking at a low-7 to mid-8 figure exit. And to become fully vested, you're going to have to stick around for 3-4 years.
2) Even with a big successful exit, you never know if the company will pull a Skype/Zynga on you.
With that said, I wouldn't scoff at them, I just won't be weighting them heavily in compensation talks.
- nbclark 15y agoYeah I agree. I would not sacrifice (much) salary for equity, but would certainly negotiate to have as much equity as I could. Regardless of how it all shakes out, I would like to think that I am somewhat vested in the eventual outcome of the company.
- mjwalshe 15y agoWell even big companies with bog standard share save schemes can be very lucative one of BT's 5 year scheams if maxed out would have netted you $70k (efectivly tax free) and that is the scheme open to every one. Plus we use to get $400 or so of shares per year as profit share
- michaelochurch 15y agoI don't think anyone solid would take a sub-1% slice as Engineer #1. A pre-funding, pre-code startup is worth $4 million, tops (and that's generous). Vested over four years, that's not nearly enough to compensate for the lower compensation and higher risk of a business at that point.