I am a senior engineer at LinkedIn and I got an offer from Uber for senior : 5a. I am making around 350tc in LinkedIn and I have put only 1.5 years. I am close to becoming a staff here (May be 6 months to a year max). I like the work here and no complaints so far. Uber is offering me 185 base, 600k worth rsus for 4 years and their standard bonus for 5a. I am very positive about Uber’s growth and I feel it’s a great opportunity. It’s a backend role there as well. However I am feeling bad to leave LinkedIn this early as I planned to be here for at least 3 years as I feel i would learn a lot and also it’s great in my resume or rather LinkedIn profile 😎Would be great to get some advice.
Don’t go. LinkedIn has best WLB, you can earn extra by doing something else.
what is YOE? From level fyi, is Linkedin senior = E4 FB, and staff = E5?
You must have prepared for interview and there must have been reason to interview. On other hand chances of you staying at uber for next 4 yrs are definitely lower. Uber ipo can do well but you are not typical pre ipo employee in case of uber.
Your TC at LI is 350K which I believe is better than Uber’s TC. Uber pays you illiquid RSU whose value is not determined. You are also looking at a promotion in LI soon which will make you exceed Uber’s TC. Even if you value Uber’s RSU as good as cash, you should still ask for a package comparable to 400k LI staff TC.
Stay at LinkedIn IMO
Stay at LI since you can easily bump up TC to over 400k after Staff promotion. With MSFT stock, your total TC can still be increased a lot. Uber may delay their IPO and may crash down after day1 at Nasdaq. With MSFT money, you can pick up Uber stocks as many as you want then.
The Uber RSU is potentially discounted today and the only way to get access to Uber stock, for OP, is via employment. I'm sure we pay enough to also allow him/her to buy Microsoft stock in order to hedge the bets. After IPO, if Uber stock crashes, OP should be able to easily move to a better paying job. Since the IPO is not too far in the future, the opportunity cost isn't much.
Agree that the opportunity cost is not too much. But it still an issue. Look at snapchat and lots of my friends got over 1.5M value package 2 years ago. But after 2 years, the value decreased to a very low level and LinkedIn stock bumped near 4X since then. Also OP is at MSFT, that is to say he/she got money flow each RSU grant period. At Uber, you need to wait until IPO and wait until black box period. I believe Uber has trading window for stock as well. However, MSFT/ LinkedIn doesn’t. You can cash out / buy stocks at any time you want. That is the difference as well.
If you are good join Uber. Since you cleared our interviews, you definitely have the chops. Since you seem to be set up for a promotion this cycle, you seem to be driven. I would want you here. Impact: Majority of Uber users use our services way more frequently than LinkedIn users do (anecdotal evidence). Potential: There are a ton of mobility problems that have been handled inefficiently for generations. Uber could potentially improve efficiencies and extract profits. We could also innovate to bring more solutions to the table. This means we have a much higher potential for revenue growth. Growth: There is a higher level of flux in terms of the products Uber will work on in the future, compared to the well established products of LI. That should provide more chances for individual career growth.
sunk cost? why do you think you’ll learn less at uber also staff at linkedin = L5 right? so it’s an uplevel
You are correct. However by just staying in Linkedin am I missing something big? One part of me says that I can always join Uber or any hot pre ipo company after 1 or 2 more years at LinkedIn. That means no burning bridges at LinkedIn and also Staff title there. At the same time I feel that I might miss a big chance of making some good money at Uber due to my belief that it’s going to be a great IPO
At least you'll miss out on food