Lots of great data around here about TC at the large tech companies, both public and pre-IPO, but I rarely see anything about startups. Obviously a huge range of companies and sizes, but in general how should things compare? (assuming bay area/similar col) For unicorns+ I'd expect they match up, but what about companies at $50m? $100m? $300m? How does it vary by round? Would a $400k/yr TC offer ever be achievable at these sizes? I know the advice is probably they pay less and are risky, go get a real job where the TC is liquid and larger, but for those doing the startup life what is standard? I'd probably put myself around L5 on the google scale, 172 base, ~.08%/year ISOs, at preferred price around 65k/yr funny money? 20 something employee number. No bonus, Series B. Good? Bad?
I’m working at my 2nd startup (~100m revenue) about 200 employees. Base $260k 0.3% equity, which on paper is ~2M over four years, but company is far from IPO and equity could be anything. I do enjoy my work a lot, built teams from ground up, have a fantastic bunch of people to work with, no red tape, pretty flexible in what i want to build, buy or partner with. so you get a fantastic experience with a lot of potential upside, but you lose easy FANG money and some brand value associated with them
13 yoe, series D
This is the fundamental decision to make when considering startups vs FAANG or similar companies. You are likely sacrificing $150k - $500k per year in TC, but you are happy and effective in your current situation. There is a slim chance your equity makes up for the lost TC each year. If the company is one of the few that breaks through and become a billion dollar company, you have $3mm in stock. If The company does the near impossible and becomes hugely successful, eventually becoming a $100B company you are sitting on $300mm in stock if you avoided the temptation to sell.
options are paper money but probably not as bad as people think given somewhat optimal quitting time https://www.benkuhn.net/optopt