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Comment by sync | Hacker News Reader

Does 1.25% seem ridiculously low to anyone else? It seems to me like she should have negotiated to be a co-founder instead of employee #1.

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If you're receiving a W-2 salary that's in the ballpark for your field, absent some other contribution (marketability of your name, unique and non-substitutable skills or rolodex) you're not a cofounder.

I agree... no-one wants to be the first employee, instead push for last co-founder. It is an interesting insight to what some startups get away with though - a way below average salary and a tiny speck of equity. She must truly believe the company will sell for hundreds of millions of dollars (unlikely) in order to see a decent return.

It feels like her role is an auxiliary function, like Office Manager or QA, so I think her generic analysis works. If her role was central to the business, then I don't think she would be valuing her contribution with a one-liner like 'Employee’s value-add to the company (I used 15%, which I think is pretty low!)'. Instead the question of her value-add would be the starting/central point of the negotiation.

Huh? Nobody offers .5% equity to an "office manager" or "QA". She says in the post her role is "Director".

Michelle is an enterprise software consultant with an engineering background.

then, wow, she's getting screwed.

She's married to a co-founder.

If she thinks that she's increasing the odds of a successful exit, then below market compensation could be financially worthwhile for that reason alone.

Her twitter account says she's an engineer. What makes you think her role is Office Manager or QA?

Not to mention her current salary is 140k (after bonuses), which I think would be quite a bit above what most office managers and QA people make.

Probably because she's a woman and people here can be very sexist?

It'd be pretty strange for a startup's first hire to be an office manager ;-)

It just occurred to me that I should have posted this on HN before finishing the negotiation. Would have been great to get this input then.

Shit, that's what I got as a first employee at a company that has <$1m in VC/angel investment. Market-rate engineering salary, too.

Keen also has <$1M in investment. My salary isn't quite market-rate for an engineer, but it's not too far off when you include perks (proximate living bonus, lunches, healthcare, etc). If we do raise series A (or become profitable quickly), we plan to adjust salaries toward market rate.

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