> You want me to give up my $220k+ salary plus RSU (let's say worth $60k/yr), to join a startup and take $100k/yr salary. Not really. They don't want you to gi

> You want me to give up my $220k+ salary plus RSU (let's say worth $60k/yr), to join a startup and take $100k/yr salary. Not really. They don't want you to give up anything or some do and you can just say no. The reality is that people want to find other people who want to work in startups to be their engineers. You really can't get top performance out of a guy who hates doing some work by paying him. You'd much rather get the guy who loves doing some work and pay him enough that he feels appreciated. Mercenary hires are useful in prop trading firms, but anywhere else the mercenary is better contracted than hired. Besides, startup salaries are not $100k/year and you can get 2% as a founding engineer. Taking more money to do a job you hate is a recipe for burnout.