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Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires

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Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires

#81

Post by autism_hurts »

soperj wrote: post #44
Arjuna wrote: post #38

Although Woz wasn't a CEO... for those that don't know about this, I thought you would find it interesting [1]: "And when Jobs (in the movie, but really a board does this) denied stock to the early garage team (some not even shown) I'm surprised that they chose not to show me giving about $10M of my own stock to them because it was the right thing. And $10M was a lot in that time." [1] Woz's entire post is on this pa…

I truly hope that Woz is remembered as the guy behind Apple's early greatness and Jobs as just a dickhead who set us all back. Not just developers with his no compete bullshit, but everyone with his stupid no ports aesthetic. How are people supposed to learn to tinker when everything is locked down??

You know that the simplicity Jobs rallyed for so hard early on is probably why computers are so successful in the mainstream, right?

Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires

#82

Post by autism_hurts »

discardorama wrote: post #40

Beyond a certain amount of money (I'll throw out a number and say, $10M), the incremental gain is not much. The change in your lifestyle in going from $0M to $5M is huge; but from $10M to $15M? Not much. So these CEOs are doing the smart thing (in addition to the nice thing). They know that when they get the inevitable itch to do the next startup, they can count on a stellar reputation and recruit some great talent.

I think a game changer cash position for most people is 2.5MM liquid -- not tied up in real estate.

5MM means you're flying business/first with your family anytime/anywhere. You may have a pied a terre somewhere.

10MM means you're angel investing, vacationing, and not generally "working" anymore.

15M++ means you bank with The Private Bank of Wells Fargo, have a ridiculous line of credit // no checking account, multiple properties, trust, etc.

Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires

#83

Post by Cyph0n »

cjslep wrote: post #52
soperj wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I truly hope that Woz is remembered as the guy behind Apple's early greatness and Jobs as just a dickhead who set us all back. Not just developers with his no compete bullshit, but everyone with his stupid no ports aesthetic. How are people supposed to learn to tinker when everything is locked down??

I believe it was Steve Kent's The Ultimate History of Video Games Atari portion that really fleshes out Steve Jobs. The two anecdotes I remember are: 1. People in Atari generally considering him an oderous hairy hippie who once disappeared from work to go to India for self-enlightenment, but returned with Hepatitis. 2. He (Steve) was once offered $100 per transistor he could eliminate below the 100-transistor mark fo…

Holy shit. ~30 transistors make a game? Woz was a genius.

Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires

#84

Post by dsirijus »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #78
dsirijus wrote: post #54

Ask HN: So, I'm the sole founder here with investor. The dude's awesome, but the contract we signed puts me in significant financial risk if the company doesn't turn up profitable. I have more than several employees (some of them will probably read this) who I pay regular and competitive money though I'm not particulary pleased with their output (but hey, it's improving, and there's not much of a talent pool here). M…

Pretty much every one I knew that left a company or was terminated made some statement to the effect "They will be sorry when they realize all the crap I've been doing around here that won't get done now." And it is largely true, and largely irrelevent. Companies are the sum of their parts, regardless of how irreplaceable one or more employees feel. If you read the article, the people in it generally liked and respec…

I see that many people handle many responsibilities while the rest of the team is completely oblivious of the extent of their contribution.

But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about risk. That's being picked up by only me and is _the_ determinating variable in the end game from my moral viewpoint. Risk can be in form of financial risk, time, legal... But I'm here taking all that while they're being paid market rate to, what, do regular JavaScript, Photoshop and ability to pack their suitcase and leave with no consequences at any point they feel like?

Nah, I don't think so.

My personal work experience has led me to believe that world is filled with self-entitled people without much to support it in either responsibility/risk handling/actual productive value. Mind you, we're from different cultures (Balkan).

Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires

#85

Post by erobbins »

differentView wrote: post #42
erobbins wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's far more entitled to think that because someone had a good idea and either connections, money, or a great pitch that they are entitled to 1000x more money than the people who actually turned the concept from a napkin into reality. During the previous bubble I was employee #20 of a company that ended up having a $900M exit 5 years later.. I got less than 100k out of the deal. Do I think I was entitled to…

What if the company was really worth $9 millions at its peak post-bubble, but its founder's good/lucky timing selling it near the peak of the bubble gave it a 100x multiplier? Say your contribution to the company is worth 1% of the company's value, would you say you added $90k to the value of the company or $9 million?

It actually weathered the bubble collapse and was sold later, in 2003, after it was profitable.

I think it's hard to put a percentage on any single employee's contribution to a company's success, but I also think it's ludicrous to say that the combined value of every employee's contribution is worth less than a single founder's contribution. It's just dishonest.

Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires

#86

Post by defen »

Cyph0n wrote: post #83
cjslep wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe it was Steve Kent's The Ultimate History of Video Games Atari portion that really fleshes out Steve Jobs. The two anecdotes I remember are: 1. People in Atari generally considering him an oderous hairy hippie who once disappeared from work to go to India for self-enlightenment, but returned with Hepatitis. 2. He (Steve) was once offered $100 per transistor he could eliminate below the 100-transistor mark fo…

Holy shit. ~30 transistors make a game? Woz was a genius.

I believe it was TTL chips and not transistors proper.

Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires

#87

Post by emmett »

timr wrote: post #79
wuliwong wrote: post #57

When I joined a startup a couple years ago as a very early employee. The equity they offered was some tiny percentage, like 0.1%. I did the math and said, "you know, we would need to exit for a billion dollars for me to receive a million?" The founder seemed surprised at that. Nevertheless, I joined the startup. What I don't understand is if the company does sell, and I only get my 0.1%, I should be upset or call the…

"you know, we would need to exit for a billion dollars for me to receive a million?" It's worse than that. By the time you factor in preferred shares and other investment dilution, your 0.1% will be more like 0.00001%[+]. Few people think about that, and unless someone is actively looking out for your interests (e.g. someone giving retention grants -- or you demanding them), it's difficult to make a lot of money as a…

That's a gross exaggeration. If you own 0.1% of the company, you're likely to be diluted to around 0.02% at the very worst, and most likely 0.04% or so assuming 3 rounds of funding.

That's assuming a positive outcome that clears preferences of course - if the company goes in a fire sale you're not going to make anything at all. But assuming a billion dollar exit means you're assuming not a fire sale.

Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires

#88

Post by twelvechairs »

cjslep wrote: post #52
soperj wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I truly hope that Woz is remembered as the guy behind Apple's early greatness and Jobs as just a dickhead who set us all back. Not just developers with his no compete bullshit, but everyone with his stupid no ports aesthetic. How are people supposed to learn to tinker when everything is locked down??

I believe it was Steve Kent's The Ultimate History of Video Games Atari portion that really fleshes out Steve Jobs. The two anecdotes I remember are: 1. People in Atari generally considering him an oderous hairy hippie who once disappeared from work to go to India for self-enlightenment, but returned with Hepatitis. 2. He (Steve) was once offered $100 per transistor he could eliminate below the 100-transistor mark fo…

> oderous

I assume you mean odious not odorous? (P.s. Shakespeare made this pun in 'comparisons are odorous')

Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires

#89

Post by ryandrake »

dragonglass wrote: post #59
jacquesm wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have some first hand proof that google pays not-all-that-senior engineers that kind of money and more. So if you're good then you may consider moving to one of the bigger players for a substantial increase in pay.

I can confirm this as well. I'm about 1 year out of college and just got a Google offer (salary + bonus + stock) that averages ~$240k per year.

Wow, Jesus. I think I'm going to delete the work history section from my resume and start looking around--I could double my salary.

Re: Startup CEOs who gave up fortunes to turn employees into millionaires

#90

Post by jacquesm »

ryandrake wrote: post #89
dragonglass wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can confirm this as well. I'm about 1 year out of college and just got a Google offer (salary + bonus + stock) that averages ~$240k per year.

Wow, Jesus. I think I'm going to delete the work history section from my resume and start looking around--I could double my salary.

Yep. I'll take my 10% ;)

Best of luck! And I really hope that works out for you.

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