FAANG to a start up
My current TC is ~360k and it is mostly due to bug initial grant and stock increase. There is a start up that I am really interested in and I want to hear from those who made the transition from a FAANG or big public company to a private start up. How do you give up the sweet stock as part of your TC for potential paper money? I agree the upside is not comparable to public stocks, but how do you endure the time to IPO? Is there a way to liquidate your private stock in case your company takes forever to ipo or never think about ipo like SpaceX? I need financial justification to make a move to the start up I want to join.
I would suggest dont move to a startup unless you are really comfortable with your finances. Don't trade real money to paper money. Infact use ur money to buy pre ipo stocks and you still have chance to multiple ×10 if you choose wisely. I moved from public to private and I miss those fat rsus tbh. I wont move from a company like Google unless I am moving as a executive
If just looking at financials, you have very little justification moving from Google to a startup. Perhaps the only consideration is whether the base salary is enough to not affect your life style. But it’s the opportunity a startup can give you that counts. Believe me or not, it’s financially worse off even for the founder.
I went from a corpo to a startup and now moved to FAANG. First of all most startups fail horribly. Don’t have the numbers but wouldn’t be surprised if 80-90% were a flop. So better be sure what you’re getting into. Yes, there are now ways to sell private stock. Look into secondary markets such as EquityZen or Shares Post/Forge Global. Your startup might (try to) not allow it, though. For me there are a few reasons you go to a startup: 1) you like that kind of environment (way more hands on, you are not just a small cog in the machine) 2) you really believe in the mission 3) you have very good signal about it being successful (no idea what that would be tho) 4) you go in as a much higher level than you are now
How large was the startup and did it give you a leg up when moving to FAANG compared to just staying?
When I went from startup to FAANG it helped not because of resume or whatever but because I had done full stack HW dev from architecture to ship. Not many people that start at FAANG can do that.
Don't join a startup for the money. It rarely works out that way. You've got to do it for other reasons.
Life is a DP, not a greedy problem. Choose wisely.
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