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Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

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Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#171

Post by karmasimida »

highfrequency wrote: post #124

Directly contradicts Garry Tan's post saying that all forty founding engineers got seven figure payouts from the Google acquisition: https://x.com/garrytan/status/1947072583092052406 Even if the OP considers the full headline number of $2.4b to be the value of the company, and taking his "1% of fair" number as truth, seven figure payouts would imply all 40 founding engineers had >4% equity which is nonsensical.

Not contracting.

Let’s do a simple math. Assume this employee gets 5% of the company (which is super unlikely, but let’s go with it), that is 150m for what could be worth if OpenAI deal went through. 1% of that would be 1.5m.

That is still 7 figure. But this person spent 3 years in a startup, which turned out to be a unicorn and super highly successful, and he bagged a FAANG salary man pay at the end of the deal.

Basically this just proved startup model for normies are completely broken, if your goal is money, don’t join a startup

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#172

Post by michaelt »

highfrequency wrote: post #124

Directly contradicts Garry Tan's post saying that all forty founding engineers got seven figure payouts from the Google acquisition: https://x.com/garrytan/status/1947072583092052406 Even if the OP considers the full headline number of $2.4b to be the value of the company, and taking his "1% of fair" number as truth, seven figure payouts would imply all 40 founding engineers had >4% equity which is nonsensical.

> 40 founding engineers

Forty founding engineers? Seriously?

They must have a very expansive definition of founder.

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#173

Post by umeshunni »

reducesuffering wrote: post #159
highfrequency wrote: post #124

Directly contradicts Garry Tan's post saying that all forty founding engineers got seven figure payouts from the Google acquisition: https://x.com/garrytan/status/1947072583092052406 Even if the OP considers the full headline number of $2.4b to be the value of the company, and taking his "1% of fair" number as truth, seven figure payouts would imply all 40 founding engineers had >4% equity which is nonsensical.

Hilarious that the best case positive spin highlighted is 40 people cleared at least $1m, so $40m out of $2.4 billion and $240m funding. He's praising "look 2% of the payout went to people in the company". Nevermind that $1m over ~4 years is approximately the same as the differential other public tech co's pay. ($150k + equity at YC co, $350k TC at G/Amzn/FB/Uber/etc.) So when they tell everyone they should work at Y…

> the absolute best case scenario you make just as much as at the public co's they rail against working for

that matches my experience working at 2 non-public venture funded companies.

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#174

Post by _DeadFred_ »

KaiserPro wrote: post #60

I was aquihired by a FAANG. The headline "startup bought for x million" is almost always a lie, either direct or by omission. First, when a startup is bought, its generally not bought at the headline rate. So if you see a "bought for $45m" that doesn't mean People who own shares all got a % of 45m. That number is normally bullshit, but also a "total package" which include share offers for joining the new company. Thi…

When I was a kid (early 80s) the receptionist at my mom's company drove a Porsche and didn't need to work anymore because of a past company hitting it big. This woman wasn't a financial genius and didn't hardball negotiate with the previous company for her receptionist job, it was just Silicon Valley didn't used to be so gross and actually paid out to people.

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#175

Post by siliconc0w »

These stories really kill the golden goose because it means a lot of talent just won't work at a startup.

YC isn't particularly great here either, they are pro founder but not pro startup employee. Most YC companies offer pretty paltry equity to even the first few hires - and that is even assuming you aren't going to get screwed down the line.

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#176

Post by dmoy »

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #83
loire280 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but if you're 10+ years into your career and have been financially conservative (i.e. have a positive net worth), a lump sum of $1m could be enough to retire to a lower-cost location.

Hell, roughly $600,000-800,000 is enough to lean FIRE, the last time I checked.

Lean fire on $600k-$800k is taking an extreme gamble on the cost of health insurance continuing to be subsidized way beyond Medicaid levels. Which you might be fine with, but it's a pretty big risk.

Unsubsidized healthcare in a lot of places in the US costs $10k-$20k per person per year. For early retirement that eats up like $400k-$500k per person.

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#177

Post by hervature »

quickthrowman wrote: post #161
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hell, roughly $600,000-800,000 is enough to lean FIRE, the last time I checked.

If I retired at 40 I don’t think I’d want to remove more than 2% a year from the principal amount, which is.. $12,000-$16,000 a year. How is that possible? Even with a fully paid off house, you still have property taxes, utilities, maintenance. Even 4% a year which is recommended for a 30 year retirement, you’re only taking out $24,000-$36,000 a year.

You are supposed to invest and keep the money working for you. Adjusted for inflation, S&P 500 returns 6.5% a year. That alone gets you above the poverty line. Recall, this is inflation adjusted so your $600,000 is growing with inflation and the poverty line income also grows over time. This does not account for any swings.

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#178

Post by zdragnar »

usaar333 wrote: post #142
stan_kirdey wrote: post #75

Engineers: always negotiate for higher base salaries. In the vast majority of cases—especially during acquihires—your equity will be worth little or nothing. Founders and VCs still get paid; employees rarely do. Don't just accept promises. Ask for the 409A valuation, liquidation preferences, and pay bands. If a company won’t provide transparency, that’s your signal. Equity is a lottery ticket. Salary is money in the…

Under any normal circumstance I've ever seen, you should be taking the higher equity/lower salary combination and should focus on equity rather than salary. The only time it ever makes sense to push for more salary instead is if you literally cannot get a job at a public company (or even a near IPO unicorn). Plenty of startup employees can, so clearly they believe their startup equity is worth something. Financially…

I've long preferred working for startups over big companies, but my equity has rarely been worth more than a day or two's salary equivalent.

I know a few people who did well working for unicorns, but that isn't most startups, and pretending that any given startup will be one is selling yourself short.

Re: Windsurf employee #2: I was given a payout of only 1% what my shares where worth

#180

Post by para_parolu »

sokoloff wrote: post #154
KaiserPro wrote: post #60

I was aquihired by a FAANG. The headline "startup bought for x million" is almost always a lie, either direct or by omission. First, when a startup is bought, its generally not bought at the headline rate. So if you see a "bought for $45m" that doesn't mean People who own shares all got a % of 45m. That number is normally bullshit, but also a "total package" which include share offers for joining the new company. Thi…

$1M in one shot leaves you with around $600K after taxes in most states. That’s enough to pay you around $24-30k/yr. Unless you already had several other million saved already, I bet you’d be working again.

$25k/yr can be decent living in some places.
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