I am talking to a place who says they raised ~ 10M for seed and are valued at 50M. I have 5 years of exp and fit right in the work theyre doing. They’re 6 people so far (cofounders plus other engineers). How much equity should I get? They said 0.1% and they match base (180k) but i feel it’s very low. Currently, i get paid around 270k TC at Apple
For a startup that's series A, valued 160M and had raised 25M, I was offered 0.17% for senior/staff software engineer at similar yoe. They had about 40 people then.
Similar situation, was offered 200k cash + .5% equity for a seed stage company. If you're pre employee 10, you're getting lowballed.
So is 0.5% more or less reasonable?
Yes, anywhere from .5-1 is reasonable, depending on how low the salary is. I took a lower equity in favor of cash.
Don’t go for less than 1%
Yeah that's insanely low. By the time of additional raises that .1 percent will be so diluted. Series bs will still be giving out that much.
Ask for 10%
Not worth it if your cut equity is 50k and even if they match your TC in cash the risk premium is much higher with a startup
Don't leave Apple if you expect the startup to match your current TC. Think about this - What would you be doing at this startup,m? What funding round are they in? 0.1% might be right.
ask for 5% and also ask to see their cap table when they say that's ridiculous, say it's no less ridiculous than expecting you to leave faang for less than 1% of a startup
Have you ever worked at a startup before?
yes
Depends on how much cash. If you want FAANG cash that’s more than generous. If they’re lowballing you on cash that’s offensively lowball for equity.