Ask HN: Jumping from FAANG into a seed round company? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Jumping from FAANG into a seed round company?

3 pointshemloc_io16 comments

Currently work at a big FAANG and am kinda bored, but making good/great money.

Recently got hit up with a request for some founders who just quit their jobs for their new venture.

They're in the process of raising a seed within the next couple of weeks. I think the project is pretty viable and will almost certainly be funded. (it's SAAS and Web3/Crypto, and the founders worked for VCs prev as well as/top tech companies ;)).

Generally speaking prev advice with seed startups is you can expect to live off ramen but has that changed in the current environment where everyone is flush with cash?

Would you leave if the product was both technically interesting and viable? I'm relatively early in my career, college grad during the beginning of the pandemic, and don't want to get totally screwed if this doesn't work out.

Anyone have experience, esp recent experience, with working for these super early stage startups? E.g. the founders just quit their jobs a matter of weeks ago.

If it is crypto:

Just. Say. No.

With any justice anyone involved in the Web3 grift will ‘never work in this town again.’

Haha I guess we have a diff of opinion on that.

I'm not really opposed to crypto, although I would hardly qualify myself as a crypto bro. Did mess around with crypto a bit when I was younger (Which I will forever regret not holding onto lol), and I bought some NFTs to try out the tech which mostly sucked but was a fun learning experience where I met some cool people.

I don't really see the hype either way about its damages or the benefits of it, at least any more of less than any other piece of tech.

Interesting worldview in which FAANG is fine but web3 is an horrible thing to do (I think both are fine personally)

Each of F, A, A, N and G clearly delivers value to the community in some way (it's a struggle for Facebook, but even advertising helps firms introduce new products and services and keeps the economy competitive; for all the problems of Amazon you have to blame K-Mart, Best Buy and other failing retailers for being coldly indifferent to the needs of consumers, etc.)

I can't separate the crypto phenomenon from experiences like: going to the memorial service of a woman who died of COVID-19 a year ago and running into her boyfriend who was boasting about how he'd scored a graphics card that he uses for Etherium mining. That woman's husband killed himself two years previously because she was having an affair with that guy and I told him with no uncertainty that I couldn't get a graphics card for gaming or neural network development and didn't want to hear again about him and cryptocurrencies.

Only worth it if these founders are the smartest people you've ever met, and you think you'll learn a lot more with them than with your current team

Leaving FAANG is a reversible door, so you can always go back, but don't quit just because the founders are recruiting you. They need to win you over big-time

Also make sure you're paid right. Here's a database of startup salary & equity: topstartups.io/startup-salary-equity-database/

If you're looking for a more fun and intense ride, join the startup. OTOH depending on how much cash you're saving at the FAANG, 2-3 years there and you'd be in a real cushy position to give something of your own a shot.

Just remember: you join at seed stage for the experience of building something from the ground up (and some degree of ownership over what you do). It's a long and uncertain path to if it will ever result in a payday.

This is hard.

Early in your career, I'd say stay where your at. Most of us will never get to FAANG and you have no idea if this startup will make it.

Plus if they're hiring you as the lead engineer for the company that's a major red flag.

You bring in experienced people before junior devs.

I wouldn't do it, the vast majority of startups fail or sell for less than they took in investment.

Don't assume you'll get rich

Reverse it, say your at a startup and a FAANG offered you double the pay. What would you do ?

Ha yeah for sure not assuming I'll get rich, probably just overworked. :D

Also I wouldn't be the only engineer they're planning on hiring around ~10 or so and I have prev experience in the field they're building for. So I'd say I'm more of an intermediate dev.

Probably leave, depending on how well the startup is going, two in the hand and all that. That said my general goal at FAANG has been to meet people + stack cash and learn to eventually start my own thing. (And not be homeless if it doesn't work out lol.)

So if this startup pays eq/similar comp in cash and not monopoly money I'd say sure, just not sure of the quirks of working at a seed company hah.

Don’t join an early stage startup, found one. The equity you get granted is never worth it, and the success of an exit goes to the founders (in terms of career opportunities afterwards). Trust me on this. Only exception would be if the founder is basically a household name

Seed pays 40% of market cash and integer equity. 1% of company if you’re intermediate to junior and they have raised seven figures. Entirely up to you, FAANG will mark you as regrettable attrition if they like you and then you can walk back on if it doesn’t work.

By 40% market cash and integer equity is that 40% of market rate total comp?

Makes sense, do you have experience "walking back on"? Interviewing is such a PITA and I'd like to avoid it if I can.

It would be a big derisk to just go along for the ride for like a year with a pay cut, and if it doesn't work out come back.

> Makes sense, do you have experience "walking back on"? Interviewing is such a PITA and I'd like to avoid it if I can.

Not sure which one you work at but at Amazon when I left (~2 years ago), you could come back within 6 months no questions asked without an interview, come back within 1 year you have to interview but no bar raiser, come back after 1 year full interview process. I never tried going back but that's what it was.

Very cool thanks for the data point!

That makes sense to me too, honestly with those kinds of numbers might as well take a paid sabbatical for six months lol.

if not now, when?

5 years or so, after saving enough money from FAANG to make the jump without endangering my financial future.

Thing is in five years we might not have 0% interest rates and tons of money flowing through the system which is making me consider this now. (B/c hopefully the startup will have enough money sloshing around to be about my current comp.)

That works for some, for others they get used to the certainty, plus lifestyle inflation is a real risk.

The next RSU vest is always right around the corner.

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