Hi. I got an offer from a SF based startup, and any help evaluating it is much appreciated. Company is less than 50 people and just landed a series B fund. Offer for firmware engineer: $150K base + $10K relo Stock options: 0.1% =$152K (based on series B valuation) minus $9K cost = $143K over 4 years. YOE: 8 Current TC: $115K in OC, CA
150 is too low IMO
Thank you. How much higher should I ask for?
I didn’t do market research for Firmware Engineer roles but if you’re getting paid 115k at your current role in SoCal 150 is less for Bay area, you’ll be downgrading your lifestyle. I would say 180k base should be about right. I won’t take startup equity too seriously.
Get Atleast 200 k options and 160 base .
Thank you
150k base will be difficult to survive in SF unless you are single
Thank you. Yeah I’m single, but I also don’t want to be lowballed just because I don’t have living experience in the area. How much higher should I ask for?
Think of options as worthless or very less value. Then think about your living expenses etc and calculate how much would 150k buy you depending on your experience
They raised the cash to be $165K base + $40K signon, and decreased equity to 0.08%, which was good enough for me, but at the same time I got an offer from Amazon which just aligned more with my career goals at this stage, so I took it. I’m just bummed I turned down a potentially great startup that I actually did believe in its product and team.
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