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Founder liquidity doesn’t make up for much in the average situation. Making $400k after making $100k for 4 years doesn’t really change much. It gets you upto

Founder liquidity doesn’t make up for much in the average situation. Making $400k after making $100k for 4 years doesn’t really change much. It gets you upto junior engineer level. The underestimated play is becoming a cofounder to a great CEO 2nd time founder.

parentheses 2y ago
This assumes how much of the founders' shares they sell and the size of the raise. The $400k figure is just arbitrary here. I imagine when companies are raising Series B or later, founders are walking away with millions.
- keeptrying 2y ago
  $1-$2M after 6 years of working at $100k isn’t really much either in the Bay. (Which is the only place you’d get that.) Even that averages to a senior Eng salary for the very very few founders who get there. This has to be tempered by other realities - no social life - working 80 hours a week easily - risking personal finances - health problems - good chance of divorce / no deep relationships Starting a company is no joke. Very few get to series B/C.
  - newshackr 2y ago
    That may be true, but it is also true of early employees who stick it out for similar amounts of time and get nothing. $1-2 million may be the total amount they would get after a billion dollar exit.
Sytten 2y ago
Getting out of the SV bubble this is an insane amount of money. I boostrap my business and I make 40k a year. Most senior SWE around here make less than 100k.
- hn_throwaway_99 2y ago
  Obviously everything is local. 40k is about $20/hr, which where I live is just a tad above what new fast food workers make. Fresh CS grads make more than $100k (or at least they did, obviously the past year and a half has been brutal). This is not in SV.
  - adastra22 2y ago
    In most of the world (even just considering developed nations) fresh CS grads do not make more than $100k. Senior software engineers don't even make that much anywhere in Europe or most of Canada.
    - selestify 2y ago
      Why the disparity? Especially with Canada - no language barrier and no time zone differences. Why doesn’t the free market equalize Canadian dev wages with American ones?
      - adastra22 2y ago
        The better question is why doesn't the free market lower Silicon Valley pay to be comparable to the rest of the world. SV is the outlier. Even other forms of engineering don't pay compensation anywhere near what SV software devs get.
        hn_throwaway_99 2y ago
        In winner-take-nearly-all industries, it makes sense to pay top dollar for talent if that gives you a better chance of being "the winner".
      - jahewson 2y ago
        How much do Canadian tech companies earn per employee? There’s your answer.

parentheses 2y ago

This assumes how much of the founders' shares they sell and the size of the raise. The $400k figure is just arbitrary here. I imagine when companies are raising Series B or later, founders are walking away with millions.

keeptrying 2y ago
$1-$2M after 6 years of working at $100k isn’t really much either in the Bay. (Which is the only place you’d get that.) Even that averages to a senior Eng salary for the very very few founders who get there. This has to be tempered by other realities - no social life - working 80 hours a week easily - risking personal finances - health problems - good chance of divorce / no deep relationships Starting a company is no joke. Very few get to series B/C.
- newshackr 2y ago
  That may be true, but it is also true of early employees who stick it out for similar amounts of time and get nothing. $1-2 million may be the total amount they would get after a billion dollar exit.

Sytten 2y ago

Getting out of the SV bubble this is an insane amount of money. I boostrap my business and I make 40k a year. Most senior SWE around here make less than 100k.

hn_throwaway_99 2y ago
Obviously everything is local. 40k is about $20/hr, which where I live is just a tad above what new fast food workers make. Fresh CS grads make more than $100k (or at least they did, obviously the past year and a half has been brutal). This is not in SV.
- adastra22 2y ago
  In most of the world (even just considering developed nations) fresh CS grads do not make more than $100k. Senior software engineers don't even make that much anywhere in Europe or most of Canada.
  - selestify 2y ago
    Why the disparity? Especially with Canada - no language barrier and no time zone differences. Why doesn’t the free market equalize Canadian dev wages with American ones?
    - adastra22 2y ago
      The better question is why doesn't the free market lower Silicon Valley pay to be comparable to the rest of the world. SV is the outlier. Even other forms of engineering don't pay compensation anywhere near what SV software devs get.
      - hn_throwaway_99 2y ago
        In winner-take-nearly-all industries, it makes sense to pay top dollar for talent if that gives you a better chance of being "the winner".
    - jahewson 2y ago
      How much do Canadian tech companies earn per employee? There’s your answer.