Which L4 offer to take - Google, Databricks, Cruise, Argo AI
Edit: took google in the end. Got offers from a few places. Google has the most interesting work, Databricks I would learn the most, Cruise has the nicest team, and Argo has a mix of everything (but AV companies may not see as much growth). Which do you think is the best? Current TC: 250k Location: Seattle Yoe: 2.5 —— Google Breakdown: Base Salary: $169k Sign on: $0k Target Annual Bonus: 15% Equity: $346k (33/33/22/12 per year split) Target Annual Refresher: ~$75k Year 1 comp: $308k year 2+ comp: $327k —— Databricks breakdown: Base Salary: $155k Sign on: $0 Target Annual Bonus: 12.5% Equity: $748k (3400 shares at $220 each) Target annual refresher: $0k Year 1 comp: $361k Year 2+ comp: $361k —— Cruise breakdown: Base Salary: $190k Sign on: $40k Target Annual Bonus: 30% (57k) Equity: $350k/4 years Target annual refresher: ~$66k over 4 years Year 1 comp: $374.5k Year 2+ comp: $351k —— Argo breakdown: Base Salary: $200k Sign on: $40k Target Annual Bonus: 15% Equity: $550k for 4 years (shares are priced at 20B valuation) Target annual refresher: ~$66k over 4 years Year 1 comp: $407.5k Year 2+ comp: $367.5k #Google #Databricks #Argo #Ai #Cruise #microsoft
748?? Holy shit I need to apply to DB
Right?! But their cash is lower than others
Congrats on all the offers. Do you have 250K TC with Microsoft in Redmond? That seems pretty high for 2.5 yoe. Do you have any Masters or PhD degree. What level are you at Microsoft?
Databricks or Argo whatever has better culture or WLB
did u have to take any time off work to prepare for all these interviews? very good offer list
Only a little bit, most companies were very good about letting me schedule interviews before 10 am and/or on multiple days!
Congratulations! Please share your preparation
I started prepping in November/December and did most of the Meta interview questions on Leetcode. Prepping for those gave me a really great background for the algos interviews. Otherwise I also just built React apps for fun since some rounds tested that a lot (ex: databricks)
Databricks ask questions on React?
Given the Databricks offer, I'll skip the AV companies. In AV, while there may be personal upside for you in the short term, long term, the sector is primed for consolidation. Not everyone will survive unscathed.
When you mean consolidation, do you mean that they’ll all get acquired? Is that a bad thing for my TC?
If you look at the landscape of AV companies, many companies were either acquired or closed down. Drive ai got acquired by Apple, voyage got acquired by cruise, Starsky robotics closed down, zoox got acquired by Amazon, Uber atg is part of Aurora, Lyft L5 was acquired by Toyota if I recall correctly. There are probably many others as well.
Databricks valuation is no longer what it was. It should be discounted by 40-50% to align with recent public growth stock adjustments.
Why target refresher is 0?!
Are there typically refreshers? The recruiter didn’t say anything about it
Joined last April as L5 - got 1100+ shares. I believe all levels should have.
Databricks or Argo. Whichever you believe in more
Hmm Databricks would make me a great engineer, but Argo is also very cool to work for autonomous vehicles. I’m kinda suspicious about AV company valuations after Aurora and TuSimple ipos
As you should be - I would seriously advise against taking Argo’s $20B valuation at their word. Internally, people know there’s absolutely no chance at that