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Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

oxide.computer

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Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#101

Post by halestock »

steveklabnik wrote: post #13
endianswap wrote: post #2

Wish they would've gone into more detail about the sales exemption - it seems to undermine many of the other points on the page...

I forget the details, but the rough shape of it is that sales makes a lower base salary, but with a commission component that can lead to a higher salary than the standard one. I can't remember if there's also some sort of cap. You could take it as undermining those other points, but I don't. (I am, of course, biased.) We didn't do this because we needed to address some failing of these other things, we did it becaus…

In practice, what % of the salespeople make a higher base salary?

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#103

Post by ahussain »

carstenhag wrote: post #94

I understand that currently (and maybe because you are "only" 75 employees) it feels fair for everyone, or people are even feeling bad about it. Also it sets the bar high when hiring someone, I get that. But what if in a year or two a person is not so great anymore? Just by my own past work experience at 2-3 companies, there were always some colleagues that were definitely not good at their job (and this was pretty m…

Wouldn't this person be put on a PIP and then fired if their performance didn't improve?

Even at companies with non-uniform salaries, it's difficult to down-level someone. Their morale will drop, the team's anxiety will go up, and (if they were genuinely bad for a long time), the team will wonder why they weren't fired.

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#104

Post by steveklabnik »

halestock wrote: post #101
steveklabnik wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I forget the details, but the rough shape of it is that sales makes a lower base salary, but with a commission component that can lead to a higher salary than the standard one. I can't remember if there's also some sort of cap. You could take it as undermining those other points, but I don't. (I am, of course, biased.) We didn't do this because we needed to address some failing of these other things, we did it becaus…

In practice, what % of the salespeople make a higher base salary?

I don't personally know. We also only started hiring for these roles very recently, so I don't think it would really even be representative yet.

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#105

Post by steveklabnik »

jszymborski wrote: post #90
tptacek wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably because it would be untenable to fund a hardware startup that needs to carry inventory as an employee-owned co-op.

Funding for co-ops is usually a sore spot for sure, and like you pointed out, they're a hardware startup, which often require more funding than most. That said, I wonder how far traditional bank loans + loans for the founders themselves could have gotten them. Clearly not as straightforward as just keeping it a private corp and trading funding for equity.

> I wonder how far traditional bank loans + loans for the founders themselves could have gotten them.

There's a reason startups generally don't get traditional bank loans: they're far too risky of a loan for the bank to be interested!

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#106

Post by steveklabnik »

paddw wrote: post #102

I'm more curious how the business is going? Have they got a Fortune 1000 on board yet?

It's going well! We often can't share details about our customers. We did do a joint announcement with Lawrence Livermore National Labs: https://oxide.computer/blog/oxide-computer-company-and-lawre...

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#107

Post by zem »

steveklabnik wrote: post #100
zem wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

interesting! how are the administrative tasks managed, or are there just not that many of them? I've worked for a pretty small startup that still had a dedicated admin person who had a ton of stuff to do, though maybe Indian companies need that more.

What kinds of tasks are you asking about, specifically? Admin can be pretty far-ranging.

off the top of my head, making sure that the building rent was paid and maintenance and supplies taken care of for various offices, managing calendars for the executives, managing software licenses, doing any government paperwork that was needed, perhaps even doing the admin side of HR if there're no dedicated HR roles.

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#108

Post by IshKebab »

__jonas wrote: post #64
michaelt wrote: post #23

> One of the more incredible (and disturbingly frequent) objections I have heard is: "But is that what you’ll pay support folks?" I continue to find this question offensive, but I no longer find it surprising: the specific dismissal of support roles reveals a widespread and corrosive devaluation of those closest to customers. The easy way to "pay everyone the same amount" when you sorta don't want to is to outsource…

Not sure what you're saying, are you implying Oxide is doing this?

Almost certainly. You really think they are paying their cleaners and receptionist $200k?

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#109

Post by IshKebab »

ec109685 wrote: post #38
michaelt wrote: post #23

> One of the more incredible (and disturbingly frequent) objections I have heard is: "But is that what you’ll pay support folks?" I continue to find this question offensive, but I no longer find it surprising: the specific dismissal of support roles reveals a widespread and corrosive devaluation of those closest to customers. The easy way to "pay everyone the same amount" when you sorta don't want to is to outsource…

Why is that a good thing?

It's not. He's just pointing out that their "we pay everyone the same" line probably isn't true.
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