Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#1

Post by thrwunderpaid » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 2:35 PM UTC

Recently there was a thread about someone making ~$500k/year at a FAANG company and seeing that there's people who hang out here and make ~$300k/year I always have questions for high income earners. Since I don't know any personally (or at least I think I don't) I'm hoping some are lurking and willing to answer some questions. I've set it to $300k because I think at this range the salary is exceptional even in LA/SF/NYC.

These are my questions and I'm adding my own answers though my income is not really in this range; some are slightly fudged to prevent de-anonymizing.

* What do you do?

* What is your job title?

* What is your total comp?

* Who do you work for?

* Where do you live (assuming you don't work from home)?

* How long did it take you to get here?

* How did you get here (networking/raw technical skill/job board/dumb luck, etc.)?

* What do you do?

- I do frontend development for financial applications; think trader dashboards, openfin, etc. I have done backend work previously and actually prefer it to frontend work

* What is your job title?

- Associate; a generic corporate title in banking

* What is your total comp?

- Last year I made $118k including my yearly bonus and 401k matching

* Who do you work for?

- JPMorgan

* Where do you live (assuming you don't work from home)?

- A large Texas city; one of Dallas/Houston/San Antonio

* How long did it take you to get here?

- 5 years from my first job as a developer

* How did you get here (networking/raw technical skill/job board/dumb luck, etc.)?

- It's been a gradual climb; whenever I feel there's no more to learn at my current job I look for another, each move included a pay bump. This job I managed through an acquaintance who offered to put my resume in although I was not looking for a job at the time

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#2

Post by 0xB31B1B » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 2:55 PM UTC

300 tc is pretty standard for FAANG and the big unicorns. I pull down 330k w 5 years experience at a Uber. 180 cash, 150k equity. I’m incredibly average, 5 years exp.

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#3

Post by adamnemecek » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 2:56 PM UTC

0xB31B1B wrote: post #2

300 tc is pretty standard for FAANG and the big unicorns. I pull down 330k w 5 years experience at a Uber. 180 cash, 150k equity. I’m incredibly average, 5 years exp.

It’s definitely not standard. Esp at say amazon.

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#4

Post by CryoLogic » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 2:57 PM UTC

0xB31B1B wrote: post #2

300 tc is pretty standard for FAANG and the big unicorns. I pull down 330k w 5 years experience at a Uber. 180 cash, 150k equity. I’m incredibly average, 5 years exp.

Amazon comp is below 300 until probably principal level. Maybe a few seniors have it.

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#5

Post by throwaway713 » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 2:57 PM UTC

Also, not to hijack your question, but is it true that data scientists at FAANG companies earn significantly less in stock than software engineers?

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#6

Post by aantix » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 2:58 PM UTC

0xB31B1B wrote: post #2

300 tc is pretty standard for FAANG and the big unicorns. I pull down 330k w 5 years experience at a Uber. 180 cash, 150k equity. I’m incredibly average, 5 years exp.

Shouldn’t there be a distinction made between public and private company equity?

150k of Facebook stock seems much more desirable vs 150k of Uber stock because at least with Facebook stock you could liquidate it on the public market?

Or am I missing something?

Paysa puts Uber at #1 for compensation, but their stock isn't liquidatable like a public company. Doesn't make sense.

https://www.paysa.com/company-rank

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#7

Post by thrwunderpaid » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 2:58 PM UTC

throwaway713 wrote: post #5

Also, not to hijack your question, but is it true that data scientists at FAANG companies earn significantly less in stock than software engineers?

Not at all, this is the reason I posted this question. Some of us would like a peek into our career prospects :)

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#8

Post by adamnemecek » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 2:59 PM UTC

aantix wrote: post #6

0xB31B1B wrote: post #2

300 tc is pretty standard for FAANG and the big unicorns. I pull down 330k w 5 years experience at a Uber. 180 cash, 150k equity. I’m incredibly average, 5 years exp.

Shouldn’t there be a distinction made between public and private company equity? 150k of Facebook stock seems much more desirable vs 150k of Uber stock because at least with Facebook stock you could liquidate it on the public market? Or am I missing something? Paysa puts Uber at #1 for compensation, but their stock isn't liquidatable like a public company. Doesn't make sense. https://www.paysa.com/company-rank

Uber stock has more promise of growth. Also there are private markets (idk to what extent one can participate tho).

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#9

Post by chrisper » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 2:59 PM UTC

What is a FAANG?

Edit: so many responses at once!

Re: Ask HN: Those making over $300k/year, how did you achieve it?

#10

Post by 0xB31B1B » Wed, Apr 11, 2018, 2:59 PM UTC

throwaway713 wrote: post #5

Also, not to hijack your question, but is it true that data scientists at FAANG companies earn significantly less in stock than software engineers?

Yes, but some Algo and AI researchers earn way way more.