
Ask HN: Are these signs of a failing startup - employee123
I just joined a startup which has been running for more almost 2 years now as a remote dev and have been with them for about 5 months now. Currently, we do not have any strong revenue coming in and have about 2-3 customers, it&#x27;s a SASS&#x2F;b2b product so I can understand if we don&#x27;t have that many customers. Last month, the salaries of employees was slashed by more than 50% &amp; I was told by the CTO that because they didn&#x27;t really have any revenue, investors advised that they reduced spending. A senior developer already left. I do not have any equity in the startup (because I&#x27;m halfway across the world, but was promised when I relocated and started working onsite). Are these signs of a failing startup? Should I jump ship? I&#x27;m the only dev on the team and it doesn&#x27;t seem like they are hiring a replacement for the senior dev that left which we need badly.
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byoung2
Get out now! If the investors believed that the startup had legs, they would
put more money in, not suggest cutting costs. Reducing salary is a huge red
flag, and there is no upside for you with no equity. You'll never get the lost
salary back even if they become profitable.

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sharemywin
I would think if they aren't adding new customers that's a problem. Are there
any new customers in the pipeline? how long is the sales cycle? I would think
they need to replace some of that salary with equity. Also, you have to
question that leadership of a company that's cutting salary's of employees
over themselves. Unless, they're already working for free.

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employee123
the CTO told me that everyone, including the founders had their salaries
slashed, save the senior dev who already left.

I'm not sure if there are new customers, maybe just one.

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opendomain
Then you should get some equity if you stay.

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greenyoda
Equity in a two-year-old company with 2-3 customers and not enough revenue to
pay its employees is probably worthless - looks like this company won't be
around for much longer. Time to look for another job.

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corecoder
What do you mean, the salaries were slashed? How is that even possible?

Anyway, just run.

