"Whatever. Just tell me your offer."
"Really? No wonder you think there's a talent shortage."
Hacker News is somewhat prey to its own delusions.
We have couple hundred seed stage companies on DevAuc, including many YC Alumns. Typical offers are $90-$110K. I've never seen a $60K offer.
Series A and B companies are typically able to start paying more "market" rates of $120K-$160K. We're going to run the numbers on this at some point and put out a proper report.
Early stage are always a more complicated equation, that said, the equity/salary trade off isn't the same as it once was.
Yes, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Can we leave any percentages and probability out of this conversation? Think of the children!
[1] http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/26/paul-graham-37-y-combinator...
Now if you get hired by one of these and they make it for a few more years, and you stick around, your salary will likely go up significantly and additional options be granted (though you'll probably need to make an effort to ask), but I wouldn't count on getting life changing equity out of any startup if you're joining after they've raised 7 figures or more.