4 ms·
A lot of people working these jobs are being paid millions per year, it's really not the right group to feel bad for. Also nearly everyone I know who does this
by mgraczyk 1y ago
A lot of people working these jobs are being paid millions per year, it's really not the right group to feel bad for. Also nearly everyone I know who does this loves it
- SJC_Hacker 1y agoThere's a handful of people being paid millions. And they will expect everyone underneath them to have the same work ethic, for far less pay
- mgraczyk 1y agoA typical engineer at a top AI startup makes over 1M/year, mostly equity. You may think that the equity is worthless, but they don't and that's part of why they are willing to work hard
- jennyholzer 1y ago- What background do you assume a typical engineer has? (I.E., title, years of experience, internal level) - Which firms qualify as top AI startups? - What percentage of the $1M is paid as salary? - How widely do equity packages vary for people with this background?
- mgraczyk 1y ago0-10 years experience (wide range) Let's say top 30 by valuation Depending on the startup, 10-25% Very widely I claim the median is around 1M at these top companies. Not the median offer, but the median current employee
- crystal_revenge 1y agoYou're claiming contradictory things > A typical engineer at a top AI startup makes over 1M/year, mostly equity. [0] >> - What percentage of the $1M is paid as salary? > Depending on the startup, 75-90% Which one is it? I've worked for multiple AI startups and have many friends in the space and I don't know that many are making $750-900k cash, but calling $100-250k cash + dreams and wishes a million doesn't add up either. 0. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44698470 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44698470
- mgraczyk 1y agoI read it backwards, 75-90 is equity. I fixed. But I should make it clear that ordinarily I'd agree with the haters, but AI is actually different and so much wealth will be created that many of these unicorns will end up exiting for plenty. The people who got left out of the windsurf deal will still make millions (just not tens of millions)
- jennyholzer 1y ago[flagged]
- mgraczyk 1y agoDoes that not match your experience? For example 250 base, 750 equity wouldn't be out of the norm
- tbrownaw 1y ago> startup [...] mostly equity So, a purported 1M/yr but it's in funny money.
- mgraczyk 1y agoSure, but some of these companies are valued at multiples lower than public companies doing AI. It's reasonable to discount that but foolish to ignore it
- msgodel 1y agoIf you're going to burn yourself out you better be paid millions because you'll need to afford the crash that comes after.
- mgraczyk 1y agoThere is no crash if you like what you're doing and are surrounded by people who work hard and feel like they're on the same team
- almost_usual 1y agoWork for a public company and get paid in real equity or start your own company if you want to burn yourself out. Anything less is a monumental waste of time and energy. Looks like you’re a founder based on your profile so you’ve also figured this out.
- pitched 1y agoBurnout is: exhaustion, inefficacy and depersonalization. The crash happens when inefficacy kicks because that’s very market-dependent and not really something anyone can control. The easiest of those to control is exhaustion but it’s also nigh-impossible to measure. So I think our best bet is to keep a close eye on depersonalization and shift gears immediately if that ever happens.
- jennyholzer 1y agoFrankly this sounds like a cult mentality that I would cautiously endure for a lucrative salary.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]