I’m mulling over two offers / next steps in my career and would love to hear others feedback. I’m a senior level product leader and entrepreneur with 14 YOE and who for the past 5 years has been running a product studio with $1M in revenues. Opportunity 1: Join a series A tech startup as VP/Head of Product. Company has about 40 employees, has raised around $14M and is generating $3M/yr in revenue. Offer is $185K + 1% Opportunity 2: Join two other serial entreprenuers / investors, via an aquihire of my product studio, as a General Partner to launch a Venture Studio and Fund. Initial fund will target to raise $10M by mid-2020. Offer is $100K + 20% GP (all 3 GPs take the same salary at inception). Salary will increase once the fund is raised. Thoughts on each opportubuty? Am i under valuing myself in the market? I’m in Washington, DC.
Opportunity 2 sounds much more interesting. Option 1 sounds like a low offer.
Also I wouldn’t come to Blind for advice on this IMO, reach out to your startup/VC network instead?
As I have. I’ve been itching to get into the conversations on blind and thought this might be a fun one.
I’m actually curious about comp for VP Product roles. I’ve been out of the “employed by others” game for 5 years and have been focused on running a business and taking what is likely less than market rate so I could reinvest.
I would do Opportunity 2 no questions asked (assuming that leaves financially stable)
What was your career path like to get this point?
Option 2 is not stable and has almost as much variance as option 1. Not sure how the carry works out, but I think you have to beat > 10% annual returns to make a good income? OP — how does the acquihire come into play here? Are you getting a payout?
This is a great position to be in. It seems like your path logically leads to option 2. $10mill to start seems low, hopefully the other GPs are as good at fundraising as you are at product management and strategy. DC has been coming out with some great design studios in the last 10 years! ISL, Chief, Polygraph... All great brands. VP with 14 YoE in NYC unicorn, $580k
What’s your opinion of the equity amount in Option 1? Is this within expectations?
They could probably go up to 3% but the fact they didn't give him the CPO or cofounder title tells me that there some reservation. It could also be an investor constraint. There are many options. All speculation though
Go with the venture studio option. You will get broad exposure to running a business on the strategy and operational front. If you are involved in raising capital, you should be compensated for it. 250K base salary is living wage for any boutique VC, anything less will compromise your standard of living and your day to day mental health. If you move to an established fund, salary should be $1M + CI.
Thanks for the intel. The salary for the studio option is where I have my hesitation. We would need a much larger fund to sustain 3 GP salaries plus a studio team.
TAM and rev growth rate for startup? uniqueness?
Startup details: - Market: Privacy Management - TAM: $120B - UVP: User Managed Access (PII) - Stage: Series A > Series B (2020) - Growth: 3-5x (my guestimate)
What is “privacy management”?
Update on this: 1. Couldn’t come to terms on the VP offer so it didn’t work out 2. Studio is out raising a round. Can’t pay a salary until round is closed. 3. I’ve moved on. Interviewing at Amazon, C1 and a few other Series A / B startups in the DC area. Thanks for all of the feedback.
Wow thanks for giving an update. Not everyone does this. May I ask what the final equity is?
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I’m the Product Leader in both scenarios. Option 1 offers focus on a single product portfolio while option 2 I would get to work across 6+ ventures annually.
Any concerns about losing the autonomy you have now?