Ask HN: How much equity should an early employee get at a Gen AI startup?
I'm a recent PhD graduate specializing in NLP and LLMs. I've been approached by a Gen AI startup and offered a researcher position with 0.3% equity, vesting over 4 years.
The startup is in its early stages, with around 20-30 employees, but their product is already profitable and the company is valued in the $30–60 million range. The salary they’re offering is slightly below the average for machine learning engineers in San Francisco, but it might seem reasonable for a startup.
I'm trying to figure out if 0.3% equity is a reasonable offer for a newly graduated PhD researcher like myself. I'm not sure how to evaluate this, especially since some of my peers have received offers from big companies with packages around $300K in salary and $800K in RSUs.
I'd appreciate any insights into what other early-stage employees at similar startups have been offered. What kind of equity are people typically offered in similar situations? Specific examples would be really helpful. Thanks!