

Ask HN: Boston developer salary expectation? - one_time_use

I'm straight out of college with some impressive part-time development work under my belt. The company is a venture-backed startup expanding aggressively. I've checked BLS data for the Boston area so I have a rough idea what developers in the area make but I'd appreciate some specific knowledge about salary expectations at startups... presumably lower?<p>I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!
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vessenes
If the startup is giving you good stock participation, and has a good office
environment, then yes, the salary should be lower than going to work for, say,
BBN.

That said, a lot comes down to what a company needs, how desparate it is, the
hiring methodologies.

A formally structured startup with good board support will probably have a
series of salary tiers and job descriptions. A more informal one might decide
your salary once they meet you, or just have a number in their head that
they're willing to pay for the right person.

Since you're young, you might be less salary sensitive, in which case, you can
always negotiate for better equity participation -- more aggressive vest
schedule, bigger multiple on salary, etc. etc. For better or worse, equity
feels cheaper than cash to startups through the early part of their lifecycle.

Hope this helps, and good luck. (Also, if you want to move to Minneapolis,
check out my posts, I'm hiring.)

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one_time_use
Thanks! You were right, I'm less salary sensitive right now so I guess I need
to start researching how equity packages work.

Appreciate your help!

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vessenes
No problem! Fred Wilson at avc.com has some good posts on equity from the
CEO/VC perspective that will help you start getting your head around it.

Things to remember: stock price is meaningless, company valuation is highly
important. Baked in future dilution is important. For employees, vesting
schedules are screamingly critical, as are terms and conditions as to what
happens when you leave.

Very, very few employees make it through an entire startup lifecycle (either
to mad growth, or stability, or death), so you should imagine when you read
all the docs that you'll be leaving, possibly at a time when the founders are
stressed or less friendly than they seem to be when you're signing the offer.

