Have you ever stayed in a role where you were underpaid but had good equity, and had it pay off? I’m holding on hoping my equity will mean something, but I’m also underpaid so I’m not sure staying at my well-positioned startup will be worth it.
Unless you are in the first dozen employees or so, your equity will almost never be a life changing amount. And there is a good chance it is zero. But, a job you dislike that pays more is usually not worth it, if you are currently being paid “enough” at a job you like. Enough and more are subjective.
What company? How much equity are we talking about? When do you get it? I mean, sometimes it worth taking a risk, OP, but there’s not enough context here.
I’ve had at least two jobs where I was underpaid and held high equity (options), both shutdown and I got nothing for it. Now I’m getting high salary + high RSUs (which I can sell). I recommend at least having market rate base salary, don’t gimp yourself of salary unless you’re a founder.
Both great points. I actually love my job and my team, and was employee #14 so my equity should at least be a down payment on a house, but it’s so hard to be sure - like another commenter said, it could easily be zero. Not sure how much weight I should give the equity in any decision making processes regarding future moves.
How much and when do you get it? Do you get to keep it if you leave? How much are you being underpaid annually? These are the relevant questions.
I’m making 90k but should probably be at around 110, I’ve got 50k shares that I can purchase for a ground floor price if I stay for 5 years. I’m currently at 3 and 30k shares with how they roll them out.
every start up ever
"and had it pay off"
case in point: lyft ipo
If you have an equity option, you would need to pay to get your shares when you want to exercise it. Make sure you have the money to do that before you leave. A lot of Airbnb employees were complaining about that and wanted the company to go public.
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Nope, but I did the opposite and my company shut down.