I got a unicorn offer (think Uber / Airbnb / Lyft) and the recruiter presented the dollar value of the RSU’s using the preferred price, not the 409a price. Is this typical? They said all startups communicate RSU value using the preferred price but that doesn’t smell right. Offer details: L5 non-eng (think PM, design, or data science) 185k base 15% annual bonus 100k / year RSU’s (at current preferred price) no sign-on current FB comp: IC4, 155k / 10% / 120k per year RSU vest (mostly due to stock appreciation)
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Company or GTFO
Unicorn startup did that for me as well. I think it’s normal
Thanks for this reply. It might be industry practice, but browsing Blind and thinking through it a bit it seems the prudent thing to do when comparing the Unicorn offer against my current FB comp is to use 409a valuation... cause liquidity uncertainty + liquidation preferences + IPO valuation uncertainty + lockup.
Role or gtfo.
Happy to add this when I'm no longer in negotiations with the Unicorn, in a week or 2 (to not out myself)
Yes it’s standard. And it does make sense. 409A isn’t really the true reflection of the current market value.
Paper money is not real money.
Preferred price is an actual price that has actually been paid for a large buyer. Especially as IPO nears it is definitely the most reflective of the value, since everyone gets common stock at IPO anyway. 409a is more interesting for earlier stage startups with more risk for investors and with less chance of IPO.
Thanks for this.
Did you end up accepting? Curious to see what your thought process was for leaving FB. I just started as DS, L5 a few months ago at FB.. Is the 120k per year with current price? If yes then it could be worth 220k plus if/when the stock recovers!
What do you mean comp benefit?
I think Nextdoor does not know the difference between options and RSU. You do no pay for RSU so anything above $0 is “comp benefit.”