I have an offer from a series-c startup that I will be countering. What the best practice when going about this? Do you present everything at once (+X% base, +X% equity, +X% bonus, +$XK sign-on) or hit one area at a time and prioritize? Also, if the employer doesn't usually give out annual bonuses, is that also negotiable? Thank you!
Startup negotiations are a bit different: - Bonus is authorised by board.. and typically not given out in the early years, don’t expect it. - expect lower pay but ask for more equity.. else what is the point of joining a startup. If you don’t think equity is worth a lot more than pay, don’t join the startup. - keeping above in mind, follow generic negotiation advice.
The question is, do I ask everything at once or in succession? For example, does it sound too demanding if I say "I would like 20K more base, 20K more equity, and a 30K sign-on" all at once?
All at once
Anything to look out for when doing this?
Nothing. Just put all at once that this is what you would accept for
Come up with an overall number for annual TC, and think about how much you value cash vs. equity. Tell them the TC you want, then see how they propose to split it between cash, equity, bonus, etc. They may have more freedom to offer some forms of comp than others. If you have specific expectations about signing bonus or initial grant, explain why, for example if you're losing the unvested stock from your current job.
What an amazing advice! I like the idea of presenting the annual TC rather than specifying amounts for different components of the package. Thank you!
I found these posts helpful recently: https://haseebq.com/how-not-to-bomb-your-offer-negotiation/ https://haseebq.com/my-ten-rules-for-negotiating-a-job-offer/
I've already read those and done extensive research, but my question was more related to presenting the offer. Is it true that I should only ask one thing at a time? (i.e., salary is fine, I want more equity).