221–230 of 348 posts
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The company doesn't have to answer every question but it would be a huge red flag if the company could not answer any of them.
and your lack of higher salary history will be a huge red flag to your rental, credit, auto, mortgage, and accredited investor application
the answer to every question on this list: "We are a private company and don't share this information." Outside of the room, the Engineering team laughs at your questions, Operations and the CEO give each other quizzical looks before laughing too, and they go on to the next candidate. You get smug satisfaction for not going with "THAT Company who cant answer simple questions", until a reminder about the rent payment…
>It is also important to note that early employees experience more dilution events. An example of a dilution event would be raising another round of funding. This is another reason why joining a company early should offer more equity. I disagree that it's important to note that early employees experience more dilution events. I know you're trying to educate but this type of advice unintentionally misinforms people an…
the answer to every question on this list: "We are a private company and don't share this information." Outside of the room, the Engineering team laughs at your questions, Operations and the CEO give each other quizzical looks before laughing too, and they go on to the next candidate. You get smug satisfaction for not going with "THAT Company who cant answer simple questions", until a reminder about the rent payment…
I don't understand why this comment is the top one right now. Has this been people's experience? I have asked all these questions (pretty much) and have gotten almost everything answered. Answers regarding revenues where a little obfuscate or a range was given.
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I joined GitLab as #29. My work life balance has never been this good. I've been working here for ~3 years, my benefits have been excellent, I have learned so much. GitLab may be an anomaly and YMMV, but it has been the best company I've ever worked for, period. Nothing has comes close. In the end I love what I do. I don't agree with this post.
How old are you? Are you supporting a family? Where do you live? What's the amount of your salary? What's the value of your equity compensation? How much time do you get off? (your benefits may not be as good as you think)
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I don't understand why this comment is the top one right now. Has this been people's experience? I have asked all these questions (pretty much) and have gotten almost everything answered. Answers regarding revenues where a little obfuscate or a range was given.
Some startups are reluctant to tell you how many shares are outstanding in the company (happened to my wife). They say you get 100,000 options, but will not tell you the info needed to properly estimate the potential value of those options. In my wife's case, they just said to trust them that it was a valuable offer.
I would say though, don’t assume malice! Some people really believe that they’re supposed to keep this secret to protect their investor info or something.
>It is also important to note that early employees experience more dilution events. An example of a dilution event would be raising another round of funding. This is another reason why joining a company early should offer more equity. I disagree that it's important to note that early employees experience more dilution events. I know you're trying to educate but this type of advice unintentionally misinforms people an…
most companies dont ever reach billion dollar evaluations. say they get sold for a reasonable $100M after 4 years. my 1% stake as a founding engineer should gross me $1M (house money). but since there were 3 rounds I generally end up with car money. I've been through this several times, and ended up with car money or nothing, and I dont think I'm alone. a warning to fresh grads that they may not end up retiring after…
If the value of your stake goes down, you shouldn't just blame dilution. You should blame the company for performing poorly.
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Liquidation preferences mean that some shares have rights that others don't. In a liquidity event (IPO or acquisition), the people holding the "preferred" shares get paid out first, according to the number of shares and the valuation of those shares. If all the cash and other assets from the acquisition are given out to them, then anyone else holding the less-preferred shares get nothing. Usually, the founders and VC…
Are "liquidation preference" shares just tagged as being worth more than their actual value though? I can't reconcile how they could get paid "according to the number of shares and the valuation of those shares" and have there be nothing left over for the non-preferred stock. If the founders/VCs have any n% of a, say, $10M acquisition, that still has to leave money for everyone else, unless the total number of shares…
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I don't understand why this comment is the top one right now. Has this been people's experience? I have asked all these questions (pretty much) and have gotten almost everything answered. Answers regarding revenues where a little obfuscate or a range was given.
Some startups are reluctant to tell you how many shares are outstanding in the company (happened to my wife). They say you get 100,000 options, but will not tell you the info needed to properly estimate the potential value of those options. In my wife's case, they just said to trust them that it was a valuable offer.
Wow, that's rich! You trust us, but we can't trust you. That dissonance pretty much makes it an auto-fail.
These are mostly offer stage questions. If somebody asked most of these in the opening interview I'd probably pass. My most important preliminary questions are all trying to get to root of one issue: Does this company follow a theory x vs theory y leadership model. So many companies out there claiming to be team oriented but in actuality are top down, my way or the highway operations.