They're both bearing the same risk, it's just quantified differently for two people in two different life situations.
And to be honest, the kind of experience that someone who worked 15 years as a developer brings to the table is probably not going to be the kind of experience that makes or breaks a startup. Experienced devs can bring much more value at later stage companies, where they can focus on the thing they are good at, rather than at an early stage startup where the founders have a million different responsibilities.
Well, this is in response to a post that said they had an offer, so my presumption here is that the startup needed that experience or they wouldn't have offered the role.
> And to be honest, the kind of experience that someone who worked 15 years as a developer
The original post didn't specify whether they were a developer, only that they were 15 years older than the other co-founder. I'm making my own assumption about that translating into 15 more years experience (not accounting for breaks, back to school, whatever).
If you try to get a single junior developer to ship the product... well, good luck with that. I can count on one hands the people in my circle who could do that fresh out of university. You definitely need at least a mid developer who shipped something else - of you can just outsource the tech side.
When my startup was incubated there were plenty of biz founder with a junior who couldn't ship something simple (even a wordpress with some plugins would have worked!) or ended up outsourcing their development (which ended up being a way to make some income when my startup didn't go anywhere).
Hard disagree here, as many many junior devs treat startup/greenfield work as their personal playground for trying esoteric tech, prematurely building their own platform, etc.
The primary compensation for a founder position is the equity stake. A co-founder would get substantial equity (20% or more). For perspective, consider that future investors will be pouring millions of dollars into the company in exchange for a similarly sized equity stake.
You need to remember that as a co-founder, they're deciding what to pay themselves. The higher the base compensation, the less runway they have and the fewer employees they can hire.
If someone is demanding a $450K/year base compensation as a co-founder, they're not looking at this as a true co-founder role. A co-founder would want to focus on equity and take something like $150K/year so the company could hire 1-2 additional engineers with the other $300K/year.
If this sounds weird or unfair, then you're probably not a good fit for a co-founder role. And that's fine! For most people, taking the $450K-$600K big tech is the better choice. Not everyone is cut out for the risk-taking of a co-founder role.
I think we're both making some assumptions around what GP was offered, but I would agree with you that asking for $450k as a cofounder is unreasonable. But I'd say that for someone closer to middle age with a family, $200k isn't unreasonable. The idea is that you want the cofounder to focus on the company, so you remove the financial distraction.
> Not everyone is cut out for the risk-taking of a co-founder role.
Sure, but that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm saying that you should not expect your co-founder and their kids to live on ramen. If you want the experience they offer, you gotta pay their bills. It's not about extravagance, it's just the cost of mitigating the same risk that the 20-something cofounder faces and mitigates with their own salary. It just costs more to do it with someone who is a little further along in life.
That's basically what I said in my other comment above, right down to the same $200K number: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30517360
The parent commenter responded that they don't like startups at all due to the high failure rate. Between that and the unwillingness to give up immediate compensation, I think it's likely that they just don't really want to be a startup co-founder. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not really cool to blame a startup for having expectations in line with standard startup practices (assuming they weren't offering $50K or something silly)
I see no mention of numbers aside from fractions in my comment. This is truly jumping the shark in order to form an argument.
> A co-founder would want to focus on equity and take something like $150K/year so the company could hire 1-2 additional engineers with the other $300K/year.
This is a rather bold assertion and you're stating it with the tone of authority and general application across the entire spectrum of what makes a startup, in any sector, of any flavor. You're also applying your own personal bias as a statement on a very personal situation offered anecdotally. Both are neither fair nor wise.
Startups come in a million flavors. What a person's responsibilities to their family are does not equate to not being "cut out for the risk-taking," as risks themselves are of great variety, nor does a co-founder need to focus on equity alone. I'm fortunate to have a wide network of colleagues that include co-founders that are in the game for long-term viability and stability to provide equitable income for themselves and their families, and their employees, as well as a return to investors. It's clear that your view is one through the lens of "to the moon on the back of a unicorn," where in fact there are many different long-term strategies. I personally find the unicorn startup path distasteful and disingenuous, as there's such an incredible rate of failure. Modesty and consistent, steady growth are now highly underrated.
Overall your message echoes that of the proposed co-founder I mentioned in my original post, and is antithetical with my views on business and startups in general. To those who may be reading the parent above, know that there are many successful startups that don't subscribe to the same philosophy.
I wasn't talking about you, I was speaking in generic terms to make an example.
You didn't give us any numbers so it's useless to discuss your specific scenario.
I commented above on the lack of numbers and provided more examples for different scenarios about your situation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30517360
> What a person's responsibilities to their family are does not equate to not being "cut out for the risk-taking,"
I think you've missed the point. Nobody here is saying that founders need to neglect their families or whatever. If the startup was trying to pay you a number so low that you couldn't make ends meet, then that's a problem with the startup.
> I personally find the unicorn startup path distasteful and disingenuous, as there's such an incredible rate of failure.
I think it's pretty clear that you're not a good match for startups. Like I said, there's nothing wrong with that. However, it doesn't make sense to blame the startup founder for (presumably, impossible to say without numbers) having standard startup expectations or startups for being risky in general.
If you don't like startups and you value immediate compensation above all else, that's fine! Nothing wrong with that! You're just not a good match for a startup co-founder position.
That said, the founder's primary compensation is in the equity. Expecting cash compensation to match big companies is a no-go for early stage founders.
It's pretty clear you have little knowledge of startups outside of those seeking unicorn trajectory. That's to your detriment.
> You're just not a good match for a startup co-founder position.
This is just an absolutely incredulous and naive take, and it shows some of the worst bubble mentality and arrogance that this industry has to offer. I've spent my career within startups, I've cofounded several you've probably never heard of that are still going and are still successful. But because they're not unicorns, never aspired to be one, and don't fit the mold of your specific view of what a startup is - well, clearly this person isn't fit.
I'm not sure how anyone can take your opinions on the topic seriously after you've revealed yourself in this way. In a way, I pity that your view is so narrow.
Again, to anyone reading this thread - it doesn't have to be the way they're describing it. Life and business are not confined to the stereotypes and tropes of Silicon Valley startup culture, and you don't have to subscribe to their tenets to be successful.
In which world are any of your numbers realistic for a founder position?
I mean we talk startups. Most startups not even get 500k in a seeding round ever
Pay for your time and if it all goes south, a couple months of developer pay to try something new.