Tesla vs Rivian

Toyota / Eng
toSE76

Go to company page Toyota Eng

toSE76
6d 29 Comments

I have an offer from Tesla and Rivian. Job are the same (engineering), same area (SoCal) both are good teams. Everything is pretty much the same. There is no more room for negotiation.

Rivian base is $180k/yr (RSU $140k over 2 years)
Tesla base is $150k/yr (RSU or ISO $360k over 4 years)

Questions…

If I take the Rivian job, would I be able to get into Tesla later?

It seems like there are a lot of former Tesla engineers at Rivian, but I don’t notice the opposite.

Tesla had me fill out a questionnaire before my first interview asking if I’d had been interviewed or offered a job before. Would I be reducing my chances of future Tesla employment by not taking the job now?

My thoughts (Pros)
Tesla - would look better on my resume. After 4 years (assuming the stock price stays the same), would be $100k more than Rivian.

Rivian - Higher base, less risk. I believe the stock could double ($40 -> $80) pretty easily compared to Tesla ($1000 -> $2000). I could work remotely for up to the first 6 months (it would give me time to sell my house before moving).

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TOP 29 Comments
  • Tesla
    newname45

    Go to company page Tesla

    newname45
    Some teach this kid that just because a stock costs less doesn’t mean it’ll double faster.
    6d 5
    • Rivian is burning cash at an exponential rate .. ! They will have nothing left in 2.5 years. For the company to exist they will have to start making money or at least even out in next 2 years which is a Herculean task! Also, about stocks, ford will certainly cash out the investment it made after the lockdown period which is next month. The stock prices will go down significantly! There definitely is risk but on the bright side there is demand for rivian vehicles. The only question is whether or not rivian can scale production in next 2 years!
      5d
    • Intel
      CPnN55

      Go to company page Intel

      CPnN55
      I wouldn't buy either of these companies' cars until they improve their production quality.
      Yesterday
  • Tesla
    TeoK64

    Go to company page Tesla

    TeoK64
    It’s tempting to believe an early stage company inherently has more growth ahead, but that’s simply not true. There are very few hardware companies that can be successful, 10 years ago when i saw apple’s massive market cap, i would thought the other smartphone start ups must have better upsides, but look where is apple now and where are all the other hot startups? Turning a hardware business with sustainable high profit margin is insanely hard, especially for the companies that are not the first ones to catch a new wave
    5d 1
    • Tesla
      TeoK64

      Go to company page Tesla

      TeoK64
      If op thinks the position in rivian better suits the career goal, then go for it, but don’t assume rivian has better upside just because it is small now
      5d
  • Amazon / Eng
    trolled

    Go to company page Amazon Eng

    trolled
    I would go to Tesla. Rivian is quite a risk move right now. I turned them down to go into Robotics engineering at Amazon Robotics
    6d 7
    • Rivian
      🔧⚡

      Go to company page Rivian

      🔧⚡
      It depends mostly on stock appreciation. Levels.FYI has a Sr Staff Mech E at Rivian bringing in $185k base plus $50k/yr initial stock grant. Bonus target would be like $35k, so year 1 comp is $270k. If refreshers keep $50k/yr coming in, that'd mean you could get within striking distance of $500k by year 4 with a little stock growth.
      3d
    • Tesla
      ImATeslaPE

      Go to company page Tesla

      ImATeslaPE
      @Amazon thats not bad man! Surprised to see RIVN paying $195k to 2 YoE Mechies. I'm getting a pretty shitty deal at Tesla with ~$145k -,-
      3d
  • Magna International / IT
    Funkopops

    Go to company page Magna International IT

    PRE
    ZF
    Funkopops
    I was going to say rivian but that tsla stock is good. 🥵🥵
    4d 0
  • You seem to think Rivian is undervalued, but I would disagree. Rivian sells a negligible amount of vehicles and is worth more than Subaru, Nissan, and Mazda combined. It could go up, but honestly, it could still go down a lot from here. At least Tesla sells enough cars to be stable.
    6d 0