Ask HN: Offer negotiation with top Silicon Valley companies?
I was lucky enough to pass the standard software engineer interview with 3 of the top SV tech companies (think Google, Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Amazon). I have about 7 years of experience (some titles held: Software Engineer, Tech Lead, Engineering Manager), and the various recruiters handling my case said the feedback from the various interviewers was generally on the strong/very strong side.
Problem is: how much can I negotiate?
In my current company (medium stage startup) my total cash comp is about $200k and I have unvested equity in the form of stock options that are valued on paper at $~1M (based on the price the investors paid for the last round) and, while the equity is obviously illiquid, the company still has a very considerable growth potential and the business is going well. I already vested a decent amount (not included in my calculation above), so if I leave I would capture to some degree the upside of a liquidity event, should that ever come. I am interested in leaving my current position purely for new technical challenges (I am experiencing a very mild form of burnout due to the lack of new exciting projects), but I am not so desperate to accept a lowball offer. In other words, my BATNA is reasonably high.
In terms of offer, what I have gotten so far from one of those companies is:
- $180k base salary
- $200k RSU package over 4 years
- 10% target performance bonus
- $25k signing bonus
Considering my unvested compensation, this seemed low, so I told the recruiter that and, after a couple days, he came back with more RSUs (total package $300k now). How more can I play this game? It would be nice if the RSU package could get as close as possible to my current potential unvested value, but I don't know if that's even possible and if that would have other negative effects (e.g. unreasonably high expected performance level, so that I would be an easy target for termination after 11 months?).
Any advice would be great.