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Ask HN: My employee equity?

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Ask HN: My employee equity?

#1

Post by fokker »

Hey HN,

I Have been working my butt off for a startup for approx 1 year and I have just recently brought up the discussion regarding my equity in the company.

There were no formalities such as a contract in place, it was purely based on trust but with a promise of equity towards the end of the year. I agreed to by paid far less than normal.

I wore a number of hats as you do in startup land, especially in the early days. I was a Project Manager, Tech Lead, Designer & Developer. Not to be arrogant here, but somebody with this skill set was absolutely crucial to get us to where we are today. Solid deliverables were delivered and the founders were always so pleased and excited to have me on the team.

Before I came on board, they were trying to outsource their technology to india. Sending bad looking designs and technical specs written by a non-techy. The final result was always so average. A company specialising in delivering tech, couldn't deliver tech.

When I started, we continued with the outsourcing for sometime but with my oversight and redesign of the platforms.. After some time, it simply was not working. I had the connections to bring on a new developer so we could start building things in-house, with proper development cycles, oversight & accountability. So we did that. Over the course of the year the team grew. We're now at 6.

Once this happened, we started landing some pretty cool projects thanks to the teams work. The capability and the quality of work we were putting forward and the character of us all helped significantly with getting these projects on board. A year has passed and I have poured my heart and soul in to the company. I'm pulling 70-80 hour weeks every few weeks- working till all hours of the morning getting things done. Not to forget I'm not on a cushy funded start-up salary (far from it). HN, what would you value somebody like myself on your team? What are people like myself usually rewarded with?

Cheers HN!

Re: Ask HN: My employee equity?

#4

Post by dman »

Do not leave such critical things under specified. If the response from the founders goes even slightly short of your expectations you run a real risk of burnout because you have obviously gone over and above for an extended period of time. Make sure that there is a reconciliation on your value add between you and the founders as soon as possible.

Try to also put yourself in the founders shoes and see how you would approach such a situation rationally. Its best to have a number in mind before you speak to the founders and have thresholds on either side representing delight / time to put in the papers.

Re: Ask HN: My employee equity?

#6

Post by paulcole »

Your only leverage is getting a new job and/or straight up quitting. Unless you're willing to do either of those, they're going to keep dangling that carrot.

Force their hand and say you'll have to seriously consider other offers unless there's an equity package coming from them within a week.

Only do this, however, if you're willing to have your bluff called. If you're not, you have no negotiating power and will be relying on their kindness.

Re: Ask HN: My employee equity?

#7

Post by NhanH »

paulcole wrote: post #6

Your only leverage is getting a new job and/or straight up quitting. Unless you're willing to do either of those, they're going to keep dangling that carrot. Force their hand and say you'll have to seriously consider other offers unless there's an equity package coming from them within a week. Only do this, however, if you're willing to have your bluff called. If you're not, you have no negotiating power and will be…

This is good advice. However, realistically you will have to rely on their kindness in the end.

No matter how much equity you will negotiate right now, in the next 5-6 years there are ten of thousands things that will dilute/ make it obsolete. You should ask for your equity right now. But take note that if the negotiation doesn't go well, whatever you got might not be of any value, act accordingly.

Re: Ask HN: My employee equity?

#8

Post by meric »

NhanH wrote: post #7
paulcole wrote: post #6

Your only leverage is getting a new job and/or straight up quitting. Unless you're willing to do either of those, they're going to keep dangling that carrot. Force their hand and say you'll have to seriously consider other offers unless there's an equity package coming from them within a week. Only do this, however, if you're willing to have your bluff called. If you're not, you have no negotiating power and will be…

This is good advice. However, realistically you will have to rely on their kindness in the end. No matter how much equity you will negotiate right now, in the next 5-6 years there are ten of thousands things that will dilute/ make it obsolete. You should ask for your equity right now. But take note that if the negotiation doesn't go well, whatever you got might not be of any value, act accordingly.

>> This is good advice. However, realistically you will have to rely on their kindness in the end.

I agree. Maybe one way to go about it, organise a one-to-one coffee, talk about what you've been through, basically what you've told us, and tell them how you feel about equity, and what you're worried about. This will build the rapport that will make it easier for them to be kind.

Re: Ask HN: My employee equity?

#10

Post by fokker »

paulcole wrote: post #6

Your only leverage is getting a new job and/or straight up quitting. Unless you're willing to do either of those, they're going to keep dangling that carrot. Force their hand and say you'll have to seriously consider other offers unless there's an equity package coming from them within a week. Only do this, however, if you're willing to have your bluff called. If you're not, you have no negotiating power and will be…

I do have some upper-hand in that they simply cannot afford to replace me - they'd need to employ 2-3 new people plus all overheads of getting them up-to-speed with our process, adjusting to team dynamics etc..

Thanks for the advice.

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