No data unfortunately, just anecdotal evidence as well. Perhaps it's the income tax rates is respective state, but when somebody has had a previous exit (YHOO, GOOG, FB, YouTube, WhatsApp, etc.), their portfolio (and whatever they diversified into) produces enough income to cover the everyday expenses, which puts diminishing value on the salary dollar.
You're right about the taxes, as I've noticed early stage startups eschewing 83(b) elections and moving towards stock grants in general, which devalues equity significantly.
> On top of that, if you have 401k matching based on salary percentage contributed, you'll net a larger 401k, which is even more money.
Most of the time with average engineering salaries the problems center around exceeding the maximum contribution limit, but I agree that's a consideration. I've never seen early stage (post-A or post-B) offer generous matching, but they certainly can.
How many people come from companies with large exits like that? We're talking what a total of 200, 300 people tops? It seems pretty unrealistic to expect most "top talent" to be in the situation you describe.
I wouldn't estimate it that low - TWTR priced at $26 produced 1,600 millionaires http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_24486370/twitters-ipo... and that was at lower valuation with lower vesting numbers compared to where Twitter is today. And Twitter is fairly minor league.
You also don't need a big exit - every single big name out there keeps issuing stock and it keeps vesting in someone's account. E.g., considering the stock growth I'd be surprised if any AAPL or NFLX engineer who spent 5+ years with the company is not a millionaire.
You're right about the taxes, as I've noticed early stage startups eschewing 83(b) elections and moving towards stock grants in general, which devalues equity significantly.
> On top of that, if you have 401k matching based on salary percentage contributed, you'll net a larger 401k, which is even more money.
Most of the time with average engineering salaries the problems center around exceeding the maximum contribution limit, but I agree that's a consideration. I've never seen early stage (post-A or post-B) offer generous matching, but they certainly can.