Salary at Venture-Backed Companies • Hacker News Board

Re: Salary at Venture-Backed Companies

#81

Post by comrade_ogilvy » Tue, Apr 23, 2013, 5:03 PM UTC

zenbowman wrote: post #78

nthj wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This works because most managers and founders aren't smart enough to pay above market.

Exactly. This is one of those things that makes sense, and just because its impossible for everyone to do it, it does not mean you shouldn't. It's like hiring the best developers possible - obviously not everyone can hire the best devs, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't try to do it anyway.

And that brings us back to the critical point: Of the people who are smart and have 12+ years experience, a significant portion will (A) be wise as to the going rate for good people, and (B) have families so that a below market salary has a clear negative impact on their daily lives.

Is it really worthwhile to choose to avoid hiring ~50% of the best people in the industry at the outset, on a vague fear that personal happiness will doom the startup? Is that a winning recruitment strategy?

Re: Salary at Venture-Backed Companies

#82

Post by jmspring » Tue, Apr 23, 2013, 11:01 PM UTC

aquark wrote: post #43

praptak wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have read about cats that if you need a mouser you should not worry about feeding it too much. Cats will catch mice even if well fed. Feeding it too little means it will start to scout for food far away from your place, thus catching mice elsewhere.

Though once your cat is too well fed it might not be able to catch mice as effectively anymore

Completely true. Our girl cat was a killing machine. Multiple gophers each weekend -- always presented them as presents. But she loves to eat and takes advantage of the fact the other cat doesn't eat as much. She's a pudgeball now and hasn't caught much in awhile (some of that is due to age...).

Re: Salary at Venture-Backed Companies

#83

Post by mhuffman » Wed, Apr 24, 2013, 3:33 AM UTC

ruswick wrote: post #53

"But if you offer too much compensation, management and employees may begin to feel fat and happy and lose the motivation to maximize long-term value for shareholders." God forbid if your employees are happy. In all seriousness, I don't even remotely understand this mindset. Why would paying your employees less than they deserve or less than is optimal encourage them to "stay hungry." If anything, this is going to de…

I think the keyword "optimal" in your 4th sentence is what he meant.

There is an old saying that "You should pay employees enough so that they don't have to worry about making more money, but not enough so that they won't have to continue working."

*edit: One thing to keep in mind is that everyone is not out to do the best job they can, and it is difficult to determine this until after you have worked with them for a while.

Re: Salary at Venture-Backed Companies

#84

Post by Nick_C » Wed, Apr 24, 2013, 4:18 AM UTC

jmspring wrote: post #82

aquark wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Though once your cat is too well fed it might not be able to catch mice as effectively anymore

Completely true. Our girl cat was a killing machine. Multiple gophers each weekend -- always presented them as presents. But she loves to eat and takes advantage of the fact the other cat doesn't eat as much. She's a pudgeball now and hasn't caught much in awhile (some of that is due to age...).

> Our girl cat was a killing machine

Very true. The female is the real hunter and the one to get if you are after a mouser. The male likes to lie in the sun, much like its owner.