$0 at one and $80,000 at another. I spent several thousand on something I wanted, and banked the rest. My boss bought a nice car. Oh, and a third sold and the buyer had a clause where if you quit you got shit.
Ask HN: How much did you, as an employee, make when your startup exited?
31–40 of 175 posts
Re: Ask HN: How much did you, as an employee, make when your startup exited?
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
You didn't put anything away from your salary? (401k? Roth IRA?) As someone from humble origins, it surprises me more people don't live frugally 5-10 years in the Bay then retire in luxury somewhere with lower cost of living.
The question probably means money made as a result of the exit, likely due to options/RSUs. I'd think that 401k/IRA comes from salary.
Yes, should have been clearer. That's what I was clarifying, since some startups vastly underpay. A disturbing number of people I meet in tech don't plan well for retirement.
Re: Ask HN: How much did you, as an employee, make when your startup exited?
#33I once joined a company that already had several hundred employees as an entry level software engineer. It was my least favorite job: I couldn't find a fit and I only lasted just over a year. However, during that year they IPO'd, and because I made it over the vesting cliff I was able to buy my options on my way out. Ballpark numbers: I had 300 options at $5. post-IPO price was around $15. I did the "sell to buy" thi…
I've never heard of an IPO'd company--meaning one that's listed on a public market like the NYSE or NASDAQ--with such thin trading, nor have I ever heard of option grants measured in hundreds...
Re: Ask HN: How much did you, as an employee, make when your startup exited?
#34I once joined a company that already had several hundred employees as an entry level software engineer. It was my least favorite job: I couldn't find a fit and I only lasted just over a year. However, during that year they IPO'd, and because I made it over the vesting cliff I was able to buy my options on my way out. Ballpark numbers: I had 300 options at $5. post-IPO price was around $15. I did the "sell to buy" thi…
"shares held(000s)" reads to me like "thousands of shares".
Re: Ask HN: How much did you, as an employee, make when your startup exited?
#35I'm a senior software engineer with over 12 years of experience.
6 out 7 start ups I worked for never had a liquidation event that resulted in any monetary gain.
The one that did ( i was employee #97 and worked there for almost 6 years) and they finally had a 2ndary offer which allowed me to sell 15% of my shares, for about 7K, but because it's short term gains, about 4K is what I got after taxes.
The rest of the shares were completely worthless because they couldn't be sold. I am not disappointed. I never assumed the options would ever be worth anything - I choose my employment based on Salary and work life balance. Options are just a nice bonus, if they do happen.
Re: Ask HN: How much did you, as an employee, make when your startup exited?
#36Startup 1: $0 Startup 2: $0 Startup 3: $3,000,000 Startup 4: $0 That's over the course of 25 years, with a few stints at non-startups as well.
You didn't put anything away from your salary? (401k? Roth IRA?) As someone from humble origins, it surprises me more people don't live frugally 5-10 years in the Bay then retire in luxury somewhere with lower cost of living.
I had saved nearly $1,000,000 from salary (plus subsequent investment returns) over the years. But I didn't think that's what the question was asking.
I have never worked in the Bay Area. Or anywhere on the West Coast for that matter. And most of my career has been outside of the US by this point (including the successful exit).
Re: Ask HN: How much did you, as an employee, make when your startup exited?
#37I once joined a company that already had several hundred employees as an entry level software engineer. It was my least favorite job: I couldn't find a fit and I only lasted just over a year. However, during that year they IPO'd, and because I made it over the vesting cliff I was able to buy my options on my way out. Ballpark numbers: I had 300 options at $5. post-IPO price was around $15. I did the "sell to buy" thi…
I've never heard of an IPO'd company--meaning one that's listed on a public market like the NYSE or NASDAQ--with such thin trading, nor have I ever heard of option grants measured in hundreds...
I got an option grant once for hundreds. It was for a promotion and, whatever the intended effect, I felt like "why did you even bother?"
Re: Ask HN: How much did you, as an employee, make when your startup exited?
#38$1000 from a part-time gig quasi startup, and $0 from a startup that got acquired.
Re: Ask HN: How much did you, as an employee, make when your startup exited?
#39About $2500. It was basically a lousy tip for about 14 months work.
Some context: The initial offer was either higher salary and lower equity, or lower salary and higher equity. The difference in pay was $5000 / year. Given the nature of the exit, I felt like a decent thing to do was at least make up the difference in pay. (The terms of the deal were confidential.)
Things were eventually "made right" by the new owner.
The problem with startup equity is that employees almost always have little bargaining power and always are kept in the dark about the real value of the equity. It almost always turns into a lottery ticket... Some people make out well, others don't, and always for reasons out of the employees control.
Re: Ask HN: How much did you, as an employee, make when your startup exited?
#40I joined a successful startup about ten months before it was acquired for several hundred million. The deal somehow led to a lot of employees losing their options (myself included). There was some discussion of a lawsuit but it fizzled.
Tell us more about "somehow"?
what needs to be explained, a several hundred million exit is LOWWWWWW. If they had a series B for 20 million or so, or a series C for close to or above 100 million, then the valuation itself was WAY more than that.
A few hundred million exit will result in ZILCH (almost $zero) for any common stock shareholder every single time, unless the company was in series A or lower.
VCs have a separate share class called Preferred, and they also negotiate "Liquidation Preferences" with a multiple. So a Liquidation Preference x1 means they get their money back, as much as possible. A Liquidation Preference x2 means they get double their money no matter what, before anybody else - like common stockholders - get paid.
And this is before your stock options' strike price matters.
Its a shitty deal, investor protection laws should be extended to cover this, because the information and transparency is lacking.