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How I negotiated my startup compensation (with numbers)

blog.keen.io

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Re: How I negotiated my startup compensation (with numbers)

#131

Post by bmm6o »

tptacek wrote: post #109
rdl wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, if the founders of a company, who have the best visibility into the company, don't value their equity, it's a waving red flag on fire. Either they are idiots (inexperienced at best, incompetent more likely), or company = doomed. Obviously offering tptacek 5% in a company isn't bad, but offering an office admin 5% is.

This person isn't an office admin. I don't know where that notion is coming from (elsewhere on the thread, I assume), but it's a little disturbing.

I didn't read the comment as referring to the author as an admin, it was just offering a lowly position stand-in in the current hypothetical.

Re: How I negotiated my startup compensation (with numbers)

#132

Post by usaar333 »

cellis wrote: post #10
colmvp wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly not that hard, especially if you live in a shared apartment. Plus if you look at his benefits, it looks like they cover some living, food, internet, and gym expenses. I grew up with friends who lived in NYC earning less than 35k a year with no such benefits. Now THAT was tough.

NYC may have been high then, but it isn't near SF now. http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/nyc-cost-of-living-is-...

That guys' definition of acceptable area must be 3 blocks. I just hunted for a one bedroom place last month and was finding wonderful places for ~$2,200 to $2,300; that's the equivalent of a 2 bedroom just under $3,00.

There is no way that San Francisco has higher rent than Manhattan: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/08/rent-manhattan-may-... Those numbers blow away San Francisco.

Re: How I negotiated my startup compensation (with numbers)

#133

Post by usaar333 »

encoderer wrote: post #60
ChuckMcM wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you miss the rent subsidy part? It was listed at $12K, so $1K/month. But lets step back from that for a moment. $70K gross income. Lets say you put $2K into an IRA (no 401k) so $68K after that. Estimated federal tax is $10,592 [1], Another 6.2% goes to Social security so $4,340 [2], estimated state income tax (CA) is about $3,922 so rolling that up, $68K - $18,854 in taxes thats not quite $50K left over ($49,146)…

While I agree with your sentiment about frugal living, in the spirit of being realitic, $500 a month for food is awfully low. At 3 meals a day, that's $5 a meal. No easy feat unless you go for processed, preserved and packaged, which is hardly a good way to live and eat.

Well, $500 a month is on the lower side if you eat out all the time (as I do) - with that behavior you'll tend tp hit $600 or $700/month.

On the bright side, $2,000 is really high for housing (want to easily cut $800+ off that? get some roommates), so the conclusion that living off 70k shouldn't be so bad (or even $60k!) stands.

Re: How I negotiated my startup compensation (with numbers)

#134

Post by wetzler »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #61

I'm actually surprised she gave up her 141K gig to go to a startup. If there's one thing I've learned, you need to make your money when you can. I don't know I would take a 50K reduction in salary as well additional benefits to go to a startup.

Thanks for reading my post :) I wrote about my decision to make the jump in a previous blog post: http://blog.keen.io/post/26096112831/why-i-left-consulting-a...

Some things to consider: 1. Consulting work is still there if I need to return to a higher salary. 2. My salary in the startup will be adjusted if the startup does well. 70k will not work out long term in SF, but it's ok for a year or so.

Re: How I negotiated my startup compensation (with numbers)

#135

Post by wetzler »

endeavor wrote: post #89

Despite strangely subtle mention of the fact that the CEO and author are engaged, I think it's worth noting that has a material impact on a common sense analysis. In the likely event that this start-up fizzles out, it's reassuring that your spouse has a stable corporate job. Sure, engineers are in very high demand RIGHT NOW, but in a few years the bubble could burst and your family could be in trouble. Do you really…

Great point. To sum it up briefly: we have no kids, no debt, and some savings. Now is the best opportunity to try and do this together. It's something we've talked about for a long time.

I'm pretty sure consulting work will still be there if the startup doesn't work out. I have SAP and Salesforce.com experience; both are widely implemented across the US.

Re: How I negotiated my startup compensation (with numbers)

#137

Post by wetzler »

sync wrote: post #5

Does 1.25% seem ridiculously low to anyone else? It seems to me like she should have negotiated to be a co-founder instead of employee #1.

It just occurred to me that I should have posted this on HN before finishing the negotiation. Would have been great to get this input then.

Re: How I negotiated my startup compensation (with numbers)

#138

Post by wetzler »

diminoten wrote: post #7

Wait, this line confused me: > Another thing that made this situation complicated was that Kyle and I are recently engaged. So, your fiance is Kyle, who is the guy you're doing negotiations with for her salary? The methodology is extremely useful, but I feel like that makes this story extremely specific. Like you said, > I told him that, if I got this offer from any other company, he’d be the first person I would ask…

OP here. You're right - it was confusing! I tried to evaluate my offer objectively and wanted to share the tools I used to do that (as well as get feedback on the approach). My relationships with the founders were a key part of the story that I didn't mention until late in the post. I added an intro which hopefully makes it more readable now.

Re: How I negotiated my startup compensation (with numbers)

#140

Post by colmvp »

wetzler wrote: post #134
at-fates-hands wrote: post #61

I'm actually surprised she gave up her 141K gig to go to a startup. If there's one thing I've learned, you need to make your money when you can. I don't know I would take a 50K reduction in salary as well additional benefits to go to a startup.

Thanks for reading my post :) I wrote about my decision to make the jump in a previous blog post: http://blog.keen.io/post/26096112831/why-i-left-consulting-a... Some things to consider: 1. Consulting work is still there if I need to return to a higher salary. 2. My salary in the startup will be adjusted if the startup does well. 70k will not work out long term in SF, but it's ok for a year or so.

'1. Consulting work is still there if I need to return to a higher salary.'

Couldn't you technically do that same consulting work at your old job, specifically after work or on the weekends?

I agree with your second point though.

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