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Comment by admiraltbags | Hacker News Reader

Interviewed with their lead front-end engineer for a front-end engineering position. Everything was great then he asked me for my "story". I answered as best I could but I guess it wasn't what he wanted to hear so he re-iterated that he wanted to know if he would like working with me. I think that's great thing to determine but was put-off by the question-- I got the feeling I would be working with a bit of a tool.

He also put a ton of emphasis on it being a "start-up" and essentially said something along the lines of "in this type of culture its expected that you earn less". I can only guess they passed on me because of my salary requirements which are ~20k under the average. If that is the case which I can only guess it was, not exactly filled with respect or value for work/life balance. /2 cents

EDIT: and jeez they are pushing themselves hard on ycombinator lately.

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    "in this type of culture its expected that you earn less"

Serious question: is there any other for-profit industry where candidates wouldn't laugh in your face for saying something like this?

Some parts of aerospace, specifically the higher profile projects where people will feel like they have bragging rights for working there. Also, maybe the game industry? Basically any industry where people people are dying to be on the inside, despite what the job may entail or their long term prospects.

The strange part, though, is that there's so much money pouring into tech startups right now, and so with a little bit of negotiation skills, you can find all the sexiness and get paid really well.

(This is not meant as a criticism of ZenPayroll or their front-end lead in particular, especially since this instance is just hearsay, but I've come across the attitude described before and have found it personally baffling every time.)

Well when you consider the second half of that type of statement is that you are expected to earn less because you are being given a large equity opportunity in the company you will help build...the statement makes a lot more sense.

To flip your question around: Is there any other for-profit industry where employers wouldn't laugh in your face for saying you would like 0.8% of the company worth in stock options in addition to your salary...

It all boils down to whether you believe in the company you are building. If it is positioned to do great, then of course you would want the equity for that IPO. If you don't have that faith, then what are you doing interviewing at that company anyways...Use your skills to get a higher paying job without the options.

Personally, I am totally ok with this. If "start-up culture" means 20 days of PTO, free meals, free gym, a ton of other perks, I would care less about the year end dollar amount. Perhaps that's just me though.

Famous last words. After seeing several SF startups implode, I'll never make the mistake of taking under market pay. I would much rather choose how my compensation gets spent rather than an employer make that decision for me.

It's easy to get lured into the excitement of working in a "start-up culture" but you will recognize the red flags after one has sucked you dry without adding much to your finances.

That's not what "start-up culture" means.

Game programming, space exploration, acting, music, movies, sports, anything where demand for employment outstrips demand for employees.

Game development

why would a frontend lead talk salary with you?

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