5 ms·

I have a friend who recently moved to SF. The tip someone gave him was basically to not take anything less than $150K for a salary.

by cesarbs 12y ago

genwin 12y ago
And be sure to get a big raise every year, to cover your 25% annual rent increase.
falsestprophet 12y ago
Only 28 out of 638 startups on AngelList in San Francisco list software engineering jobs at over $150k. https://angel.co/jobs?utm_source=home_gs#find/f!%7B%22locations%22%3A%5B%22San%20Francisco%22%5D%2C%22types%22%3A%5B%22full-time%22%5D%2C%22roles%22%3A%5B%22Software%20Engineer%22%5D%2C%22salary%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A150%2C%22max%22%3A200%7D%7D https://angel.co/jobs?utm_source=home_gs#find/f!%7B%22locati...
- potatolicious 12y ago
  There's a growing gap between people who know how to negotiate and position and people who do not. Despite heavy competition for talent it's still easy for an experienced, capable engineer to make "only" $120K in SF. If you really have the chops, and know how to stick to your guns and position yourself in negotiations, companies are willing to break the $150K barrier (even the $200K barrier). They're simply hoping you're not smart enough to know how. This includes not advertising the fact that they're willing to go above that barrier.
- Iftheshoefits 12y ago
  That's because startups aren't interested in paying market rate. They're interested in paying below-market rate plus the lottery ticket known as "equity." AngelList companies are especially amusing in that regard (I saw compensation packages as low as $60,000 + 1%-5% "equity" at one point in the last year). They're okay for a single person or the rare "family person" with no debts from college or misfortunes in life. They're otherwise not good choices for employment. Of the companies in your list, I seriously doubt more than 2-3 of them would ever hire near the top of the listed salary ranges. Fortunately they aren't the only choices. I work at a pretty big and well known company (not Google, Facebook, or the like). My salary is about what you list, and I'd hazard a guess that I could get something comparable by hinting at the army of recruiters around here I'd be interested in changing jobs, while avoiding startups. The reality is that for the value even average software developers bring to the companies they work for, the average salary for the average developer in the SF Bay area ought to be at least $150,000/year. Top notch engineers and computer scientists working on cutting- or bleeding-edge systems and research ought to be north of $200,000 on average.
genwin 12y ago
I was offered $150K for an SFO job a long time ago, but didn't consider it because at the time a 3-bedroom house next to a freeway was $900K. Now that house would be north of $2 million.

I have a friend who recently moved to SF. The tip someone gave him was basically to not take anything less than $150K for a salary.

by cesarbs 12y ago

I have a friend who recently moved to SF. The tip someone gave him was basically to not take anything less than $150K for a salary.

genwin 12y ago

And be sure to get a big raise every year, to cover your 25% annual rent increase.

falsestprophet 12y ago

Only 28 out of 638 startups on AngelList in San Francisco list software engineering jobs at over $150k. https://angel.co/jobs?utm_source=home_gs#find/f!%7B%22locations%22%3A%5B%22San%20Francisco%22%5D%2C%22types%22%3A%5B%22full-time%22%5D%2C%22roles%22%3A%5B%22Software%20Engineer%22%5D%2C%22salary%22%3A%7B%22min%22%3A150%2C%22max%22%3A200%7D%7D https://angel.co/jobs?utm_source=home_gs#find/f!%7B%22locati...

potatolicious 12y ago
There's a growing gap between people who know how to negotiate and position and people who do not. Despite heavy competition for talent it's still easy for an experienced, capable engineer to make "only" $120K in SF. If you really have the chops, and know how to stick to your guns and position yourself in negotiations, companies are willing to break the $150K barrier (even the $200K barrier). They're simply hoping you're not smart enough to know how. This includes not advertising the fact that they're willing to go above that barrier.
Iftheshoefits 12y ago
That's because startups aren't interested in paying market rate. They're interested in paying below-market rate plus the lottery ticket known as "equity." AngelList companies are especially amusing in that regard (I saw compensation packages as low as $60,000 + 1%-5% "equity" at one point in the last year). They're okay for a single person or the rare "family person" with no debts from college or misfortunes in life. They're otherwise not good choices for employment. Of the companies in your list, I seriously doubt more than 2-3 of them would ever hire near the top of the listed salary ranges. Fortunately they aren't the only choices. I work at a pretty big and well known company (not Google, Facebook, or the like). My salary is about what you list, and I'd hazard a guess that I could get something comparable by hinting at the army of recruiters around here I'd be interested in changing jobs, while avoiding startups. The reality is that for the value even average software developers bring to the companies they work for, the average salary for the average developer in the SF Bay area ought to be at least $150,000/year. Top notch engineers and computer scientists working on cutting- or bleeding-edge systems and research ought to be north of $200,000 on average.

genwin 12y ago

I was offered $150K for an SFO job a long time ago, but didn't consider it because at the time a 3-bedroom house next to a freeway was $900K. Now that house would be north of $2 million.