Ask HN: What's an underpaid hacker at an SF startup to do? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What's an underpaid hacker at an SF startup to do?

16 pointsanonsfhacker7 comments

Hi HN, I'm a regular here but am asking this anonymously for obvious reasons.

I'm an early employee at a small (but quickly growing) startup in San Francisco. I've gained a lot of great experience over my ~1 year there.

I make $90K/year, which seemed fair when I was moving out here from a 'flyover' state. But I have some in-demand skills, and I started to suspect I was underpaid relative to other people doing similar work (although, I am certain I am paid in line to other employees at this startup).

I decided to actually answer one of the recruiters who sometimes call, and arranged two interviews. Those two interviews yielded two offers in the $150K-$200K range.

For what it's worth, my percentage stake in my current company is larger than either stake I'm being offered but, in terms of percentage times valuation, they're fairly comparable. My current employer is pre-revenue, but has raised several million dollars in funding so far.

I love my current job, but would like to be paid closer to market wages. How should I go about trying doing so? Should I mention my other offers? I strongly suspect that making $150K would make me the highest paid employee by a fair bit, and may be a precedent the founders don't want to set.

Take the money, equity is just a pipe dream unless you are a founder or very early employee.

This is pretty standard situation though. you basically need to tell them you have offers, but you'd love to stay if they can match. If they can match, they match. If not, you move along.

I'd be interested to hear what in demand skill you have to be getting $200K off the street offers.

IMO two aspects you must look at carefully are: the startup company, and the team. You obviously joined a startup because you believed in the founders, and what they are building. Does that still hold true? What kind of advisors and investors does your current company have on board, vs. what kind of advisors and investors are behind the other companies?

Also, more importantly, do you like working with you current team? Are you learning from them, and do you folks get along well? Not all teams are built the same, and there is a chance that you might not gel so well with team at your new company.

Also, in the long run, equity stake > base salary, for obvious reasons. If you truly believe in the company and want to work hard to make it grow or towards an exit, your additional equity stake could make all the difference. The way valuations are going these days, they will change pretty quickly.

> Also, in the long run, equity stake > base salary, for obvious reasons

huh? I think you have that backwards. In the long run very few people get the pay day they imagine when it comes to equity.

Here is a guy making $110K less than his market worth. Say he cashes out in a conservative 5 years. That's on average $550K he hasn't made.

Suppose the valuation is 50M that means he would need 1% stake in the company, just to break even!! And I highly doubt he has more than 1% equity from the sounds of the size of the company.

It's probably worth doing the math to see how much your equity would make you in certain exit scenarios.

Let's say you have XX shares or +- 1% equity. Take some exit scenarios, eg 50M, 200M, 500M; what do you believe the most likely outcome to be for your company? How much more funding do you believe will be needed before a potential exit (dilution)? Not every company will exit, consider this when comparing offers.

Now, my personal view. If you're making $90k then $150k-$200k is a pretty big step up. Is it basically similar work but in a different company or do you have to put in a lot more hours? What are you getting in terms of equity? (do the calculation again for the other company). I would usually prefer getting perhaps a bit less equity and a high base salary.

This is money you can later use to invest in your own company. :)

   I love my current job

Than stay there.

But, if you really must...have you gotten a raise yet? If not, just ask your boss...say you've been there for about a year, make a case for yourself. If you really are willing to quit a job you love for money, then 100% mention the other offers. If not, I'd say mention them anyways, unless you know the owners are asses and will hold it against you (in which case you should leave anyways)

I'd say it's likely that the founders can't pay you much more. You can explain your situation, maybe ask for more stock options. You say it's a quickly growing startup, so besides cashing in your stock options a few years down the road, there are probably plenty of chances for a rockstar hacker in the future. Plus, you say you love your job. Combined with this economy... I'd sit this one out for a couple more years!

After a certain point, working in a job you enjoy (team you like, product and market you enjoy, and especially for a boss you respect) is worth a lot more than marginal money.

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