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Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?

thinkfaster.co

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Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?

#2

Post by 3327 »

startup case:

the short answer is no. Why ? Statistics. 1-2% doesn't get you anywhere, after dilution, vc's getting, stake and if an eventual takeover happens. A 50mn takeover will leave a founder with about 6mn is an O.K aprox. Granted he had 50% of the company to start with, where does that leave you?

established company case: As an employee you can hit the 1mn mark over a few years depending on the company. But that depends on what you mean by "big money"

Assumptions: big money > 5mn

Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?

#5

Post by nakovet »

In between GlassDoor data he talks about founders being the Lords of the Startup Feudalism and I kinda agree, companies used to pay 25-40k to an employee, a programmer/engineer can take several jobs from the industry henceforth the salary is 3x the regular salary. However the successful founder become rich and invest in other companies small, medium, big and help raise the inequality.

Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?

#6

Post by dangravell »

3327 wrote: post #2

startup case: the short answer is no. Why ? Statistics. 1-2% doesn't get you anywhere, after dilution, vc's getting, stake and if an eventual takeover happens. A 50mn takeover will leave a founder with about 6mn is an O.K aprox. Granted he had 50% of the company to start with, where does that leave you? established company case: As an employee you can hit the 1mn mark over a few years depending on the company. But th…

I guess we all have our different requirements but I think that's quite a high bar for "big money".

Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?

#7

Post by api »

Yes, in a few ways I am familiar with:

(1) Finance. They make so much "free" money that they can afford to just pay massive salaries and not blink. You just have to be okay with doing things that basically add no value to anything.

(2) As a very early employee in a hugely successful startup. But this is roulette, since most startups fail and some only succeed after so much dilution that your share ends up tiny.

(3) Working your way up to a CXO level (or near) role in a very large established company. This is hard and takes years of both work and corporate politics.

(4) There are some niches, like doing IT for oil and gas operations in remote areas, that I've heard pay very well... but these are almost like joining the army.

I'd say #1 and #4 are probably the most straightforward. If you want to pursue #2, you should approach employment with a super-early startup by thinking about it as if you are an investor. Would you take a small chunk in a seed round with this company? If not, pass, cause if you are taking a lower salary + equity you are making a seed investment.

Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?

#10

Post by patio11 »

api wrote: post #7

Yes, in a few ways I am familiar with: (1) Finance. They make so much "free" money that they can afford to just pay massive salaries and not blink. You just have to be okay with doing things that basically add no value to anything. (2) As a very early employee in a hugely successful startup. But this is roulette, since most startups fail and some only succeed after so much dilution that your share ends up tiny. (3) W…

Google/Facebook both minted several thousand millionaires at IPO. The vast majority weren't CXAnything.

I don't know whether the article is about income or wealth, but if one puts "big money" at, say, $250k of gross income, then it's clearly achievable in software. Options include a) get a job at AppAmaGooBookSoft and stay in it for 5~10 years or b) hang out your shingle as an independent consultant and charge $8k+ per week at 75% utilization.

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