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You should be candid with them that you're uncomfortable with the cash portion of your comp. 5% is an unusually high % of equity, the founders likely assumed y
by gen220 2y ago
You should be candid with them that you're uncomfortable with the cash portion of your comp.
5% is an unusually high % of equity, the founders likely assumed you were happy to trade-off cash for equity. Series A is usually a dilutive round and it's normal to grant people like yourself more options to compensate for the dilution (i.e. to keep you at 5% of the new cap table).
My 2¢: I know people in your position who have ~$200k cash comp in addition to meaningful equity. Don't feel bad about asking for more cash, if your founders have a good relationship with you and you're providing value for the company, they'd rather invest the marginal cash in you and keep you happy + comfortable.
- RhodesianHunter 2y ago> I know people in your position who have ~$200k cash comp in addition to meaningful equity. That's great, so long as its taken within the context of "200k is way more than the average US engineer makes without any equity"
- stevesthrowaway 2y agoThanks, I feel a little better about the situation. I pushed pretty hard for the equity. One of the founders knew me and sought me out, so I leveraged that a bit. When I signed on, the plan was to raise a new round within a 2 months, which would be accompanied by a bump. But for reasons not worth getting into, we waited about 9 months. I padded my bank account in preparation, and I'm just about to tap into savings, which I really want to avoid. I just told them I need around 200 to be comfortable. And that's the truth. Response was good, and they can't match that now, but they will. I'm working for good people I trust. And we are building some pretty awesome tech that are much needed in our industry.
- gen220 2y agoThat's good! As long as there's mutual trust, honesty and transparency are always the best strategy. Wishing you the best on your fundraise!