1. sure ask for a raise or equity every 12 months its common. as a programmer you should make at least what the other employees or the last employee hired makes

1. sure ask for a raise or equity every 12 months its common. as a programmer you should make at least what the other employees or the last employee hired makes 2. this actually plays to your advantage when u ask for more money. "im going to need more money since there is no carreer growth here" 3. imho - name recognition of employees matter. also try to highlight the successes of your employers that you helped achieved (made 500,000$ site or brought on $600,000 client or whatever). also would stay current on tech (nodejs go c# clojure etc - pick 1) or specialize really strongly in one thing (fortran expert etc) An alternative idea is to try to reduce the amount of work. Tell them to hire another programmer or 2, expecting you to do all the work is unrealistic. then try to automate and delegate and outsource(?) your actual work until you just have to come in and collect your check. I would definitely push for more programmers, and advise you to make sure u get at least as much $ as the new guys they've hire(d). source: I've been in this spot 2x, quit one and stayed on at one, both companies folded shortly after!