

Need advise on compensation for non-technical employee.  H1B Visa-related. - nyupstart

What is a fair compensation package for a non-technical "second" employee for a web start-up?<p>He's been working on a part-time basis for the last couple months as he finishes his last semester of grad school.  This guy has already shown that he'd be an exceptional asset from a non-technical (web design, brand positioning, social marketing, PR, etc)perspective which is fine because I can focus on the technical side.<p>Tricky part is that, though he can first exhaust his OPT time (12 months) post graduation (May 2010), he would eventually need an H1B Visa to stay in the US to work.  He offered to pay all H1B processing fees.<p>The main caveat for sponsoring an H1B is that you have to pay market salary.  This startup has been self-funded so far so I can't pay much though he may be fine with a title that warrants $30k or so.  We would probably generate our first $ in 2-3 months.  A couple investors have offered to provide some funding which may be an option.<p>Should I pursue this seemingly awesome non-techie second employee even with the H1B hangup?  What would be a fair package in terms of H1B sponsorship, salary, equity, benefits?  Thanks in advance for your time.
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pbiggar
Could you "pay" him market salary using IOUs?

