Ask HN: Early Hire Offer. Need Help

7 points·CraigTomlinson··7 comments

I have been given an offer at a fairly established startup (~1mil/yr in revenue). The team consists of 7 people: a couple suppport guys, some sales guys, and the guy who did all the dev work who has become the CEO. So basically, I am being brought on to take over current development and all new stuff.

What should I expect in this situation in terms of salary (low/med/high), equity and/or profit sharing?

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Am I reading this correctly? They have 7 people, and if you accept this job you would be the only developer?

Run away as fast as possible. This is not a company you want to get anywhere close to.

Yes, this is the case. However, they want me to immediately hire another 1-2 developers to work with me

I'm guessing you will lead the development team, so anything in the mid/high range would be appropriate.

I don't think that's necessarily a red flag. It's a bad ratio to maintain if software is important to your business, but not so bad that it started out like that.

How long was it before Apple hired more people like Woz?

It sounds like you're being hired as the CTO/VP of Engineering. Maybe 1-4% equity (with 4 year vesting) and a salary that lets you live comfortably. Something like $70k-$100k in SV to start.

More important is whether you think your equity will ever be worth much. If not you should get a market rate salary or work somewhere else.

Can you tell us a little more about your experience? Hard to judge salary expectations without knowing more about you.

Also, salary greatly depends on which city you're located in.

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