It seems as if you either work for the big guys and rake it in or you're worthless. I make 300k all in, excluding options, at a <$100mm revenue startup. Report to the CEO. Many people at FB and GOOG who know me insist I should join one of them instead and double or triple my guaranteed cash. Always been happy even though I've never made the big bucks in Silicon Valley terms. But have I been stupid and just missed out on being rich? Too late at 41? Should I just do it for the cash?
Why do you still focus on money when you're making $300k. "Worthless"? By what measure? Go live. You have access to so much in California. Just live life.
Sound advice. That's actually what we do. But the truth is I occasionally wonder if so much more money would be worth it. Judging by blind (I know..) that's the sole criteria others have for choosing a job.
It's not the sole criteria for choosing a job. It's one important aspect, sure. And you don't want to go too low. And after you've picked a job you should obviously maximize comp. but it's only 1 among many criteria.
This is the housing market as of now- http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/09/12/now-this-is-ridiculous-782000-over-asking-for-a-house-in-sunnyvale/
I live quite close to that house. Good thing I already own!
Op...how do I say this...if you go back a mere 3 decades you'll find that for all of recorded history people over 40 were exalted and ran huge enterprises and organizations. In fact the world is still run by such people.
What do you mean? What about all the tradesmen, plumbers, salesmen who earned respectable incomes in their 40s and could retire comfortably?
Do what makes you happy. Don't look for life related advice on blind. Talk to your wife instead.
My spouse says the same thing. I agree. Just can't help wondering at times.
I don't even make one third of your salary and I'm satisfied. Do what you want, don't listen to every noise out there.
Well but how much are your options worth on paper if the company were to liquidate today at their current valuation? It's obviously not liquid, but it deserves to be considered in order to fully assess your situation.
Nothing. I joined earlier this year.
What do you mean nothing? The company has no valuation? I'm not considering your vesting schedule, imagine for sake of simplicity that if the company sold all your options would vest at the current preferred share price. That should give you a good indication of what your package could look like. In order to account for the risk, that should be roughly 2-3X the grant that google/fb would give you at your level. Hope this logic makes sense to you.
The startup is called New?
300k is already good isn'it? excluding stocks, politics
It's very good. No politics. Good people. Broad responsibility and influence. Happy life. People keep telling me I should move and make 750k. After years of hearing that I'm getting worn down?
Could collect some of those options, leave and exercise them if you have cash, and diversify by trying out one of these companies. Work life balance can be very good if you find the right team or after you settle in. Worry more about the politics and organizational inability to get big things done. I would like to go your way for a few years and come back if it doesn't work out.
Depends on what you want. If you want to be truly wealthy, you’ll have to build that yourself and really grind for it. You won’t get that working for somebody else like Google or Facebook. If you just want a good amount of money and steady work, go join a big company.
That reduces to saying the only way to get wealthy is to be a founder or you build a small business or do side investments, etc. This isn't black or white. Just put a number to it, some numbers are easily achievable working for someone else and some are less likely.
I’d say my definition for wealth is when you can buy just about anything you want without having to worry about money. I don’t see anyone making that kind of money at a company unless they were a C-level exec. Then I guess you could argue, what if the most I ever wanna buy is a bag of hot Cheetos...
How rich do you want get? Is CA the place you want to be?
We're settled here in the Bay Area. Family of four - one income, and generally happy. I own two thirds of my house so that's already covered. I can save about $4k a month on the $300k. Objectively I'm good but probably poor amongst my peers and friends. Hard to avoid jealousy at times though.
Greed is good. Greedy is bad. I think for 41,, with family of 4, one income, you are in a much better state than lot of us. Look out for your work/life balance. You literally sell your soul for a FB/GOOG life. Is that what you want?? If you are a workaholic and enjoy it, then it's a different story.