

Ask HN: Average start-up salary & equity (Silicon Valley)? - mikeburrelljr

Not being from California, help educate a mid-westerner on tech start-ups in San Francisco and the surrounding areas.<p>What can an experienced nerd earn (in $ and equity) in the following positions?<p><pre><code>  - Back-end developer

  - Front-end developer

  - Project manager</code></pre>
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lsc
depends, largely, on what you are worth at an established company.

If you have good experience, and you are going to work for a startup with
milions in investment, expect a small fraction of a percent of the company
(expect to be looked at funny when you ask for information that will allow you
to figure out what percentage of the company you are getting rather than a
number of shares, but that's what matters. I can have a billion shares, if I
want, in a company that isn't worth anything at all.) But, expect around what
you'd get as a valley engineer working for an established company; $100K+ per
year base salary, depending on location and experience, of course.

Really, if you have good experience and job prospects, You probably don't want
to be an employee of a startup without money. If you have good job prospects,
insist on a reasonable salary /or/ become a founder. Being an employee rarely
results in enough stock options to make a significantly below-market salary
worth it.

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mikeburrelljr
I would assume there is a greater emphasis placed on equity, but how much?

(The typical "pay is competitive and the equity is generous" line in most ads
isn't very descriptive.)

Thanks in advance for the start-up 101 lesson!

