Help evaluate risk vs reward (Apple vs Startup)

Apple / Product
raDh47

Go to company page Apple Product

raDh47
2d 4 Comments

Hey all,

Currently am an ICT3 PD (Product Design Engineer) at Apple with 4YOE. TC is ~225 (150 base/75 RSU annually currently), and I'm evaluating an offer from a Series D robotics/hardware startup.

They're offering ~275TC (185 base/90 in *options* annually). Now the base increase is great, and on paper the options are very valuable, but I'm hesitant after doing a lot of research on likelihood of an exit/IPO failures/etc. that it could effectively pan out to $0.

I'm only 26 currently, and have many more years of learning to do in my career. I'm conflicted if I should stick to my stable job with guaranteed money in the long term (currently have ~300k unvested RSU, and pool will grow bigger every year as bonuses have been around 100k RSU/4Y annually). Or should I embrace the risk, jump to a startup with the chance to grow in leadership opportunities and build new skills, and rest easy thinking that I can always return to FAANG (or similar) later in my career for stability?

Curious to hear what everyone's thoughts are.

#apple #startup #hardware #options

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TOP 4 Comments
  • New
    mtp7lsq8

    New

    mtp7lsq8
    What’s a PD…? And what’s the startup worth today?
    2d 1
  • Meta
    WDvW03

    Go to company page Meta

    WDvW03
    I am in the exact same situation. In FAANG and Apple give an offer TC ~280k. But I still decide to jump to startup.
    13h 0
  • New / Design
    user8686

    New Design

    user8686
    Can you provide any guidance regarding the area of tech the company is in? Sounds like industrial automation based on the crazy high valuation. Probably some amount of AI as well?
    2d 0