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Earlier quoted context omitted.
I used to work at such a place. Contracts with places large as BAML and other places you e never heard of… Unless you’re the low level wizard you’re just going to make an industry standard salary, maybe a bump but nothing special.
BAML?
Look for organizations that have very large amounts of money, where software is critical to them continuing to make that money (or where their money was given to them to create something that in turn someone believes will be worth large amounts of money). Generally follow the money.
> "..where software is critical to them continuing to make that money.." Having worked in the finance world, where the wheels are made out of software at this point, I never got the feeling that the old guard that still ran the place fully understood how crucial software was to their business, and how much it saved in labour costs. The software department was generally seen as a cost center, with the salaries and out…
Are you counting the $1m in options as compensation? If so, plenty of startups will offer you that.
At least with FAANG you know barring cataclysmic events It'll be valuable down the road.
It’s not just salary.
Don’t ignore the other aspects of compensation: raises, bonuses, vacation days, health insurance, etc. It’s not just salary.
Using your own example, every "avg startup" engineer who is overemployed with only two gigs is matching FAANG money.
She decided to accept the offer from the not-sexy credit union software company, knowing she could've earned at least 30% more elsewhere. She kept using the word "genuine" when she talked about the people she met during the "interview" process, and that's what attracted her.
Well, about 2 years after accepting the offer she was diagnosed with breast cancer. (tl;dr = dealing with cancer sucks. constant doctor appointments. chemo treatments. pain. vomiting. life/death uncertainty. and so on.) She said her company was unbelievable during her cancer battle. She didn't work for almost a year (her bosses wouldn't let her), and they never even talked about sick leave or FMLA or disability - nothing. They just kept her on the payroll like normal, for almost a full year! She said her bosses would call all the time, asking about the latest test results, how she was feeling, did she need anything, etc. And, to her surprise, after about 2 years of treatments, almost the entire company showed up to watch her ring the bell.
Moral of the story: Money is great, but it's really not everything.
Using your own example, every "avg startup" engineer who is overemployed with only two gigs is matching FAANG money.
Show me the average startup engineer who has the time to be overemployed please...
I don’t recommend it.