I think that maybe you have talked to much already. Meet with Famous Company and get a firm offer. Tell them of whatever notification period will be necessary to terminate your 2018 contract. The contract you signed will have the required amount (days) of notification needed before you quit. Your boss is not your friend, he may be friendly and a great guy, but unless you are married (almost in your case) to his daughter, this is work, a job. I know this because I was a Boss for many years, if I liked you then I would have said exactly the same thing as he did, you need to move on, because I can't pay you what you are worth. If you have been there seven years it's time to move up in the world anyway. Tell Boss how great it was working there with him and how you will miss working at the company. I say it this way because you seem to be young. It is difficult to tell when loyalty is due or when self-interest is the best move. Perhaps a better way of looking at this would be to think of this as more of a overdue promotion. So now is the time to go for the glory (and money). Also you will learn many new things, things that will help you later when you move even further up the latter. I read that most people have 3 - 7 jobs (full-time) in their lifetime, so you are right on course.