But why would someone take salary cut and that to 50%

Greedy. What else?.. dream of getting a big payout if the company makes it.  
 This would be a great net if you know the founder. Because he/shee needs people to milk the company with fake transactions. That is the dream role in any startup.

Consultant

Data Analyst

I would suggest to take increased ctc on paper with more value to ESOPs.  
 Company wont have to shell out money right away.  
 If company fails, you would still be able to tell the HR while giving interviews a good number.

Sounds fair. But not sure how much importance the next HR will put on ESOPs.  
  
 Best case scenario nevertheless

Product Manager

Technical Lead

50 is too much man, 25ish with a good amount of esops makes sense

But again 25 might me hight only as it totally depends on experience level and current base salary

Software Engineer

Software Developer

Would you join a role as an early employee in a company, by taking 50% pay cut in your current salary?

Welcome to Software Engineers's Private Community

Risk of joining as a founding engineer?

Frontend Engineer

Risk of joining as a founding engineer?- Grapevine

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

How do you evaluate the risk and the potential of the offer from an early-stage (seed stage done) startup in India?

For example (hypothetical), a seasoned leader / founder is starting a new startup in fintech industry (e.g., next zerodha, etc). They raise 10 million USD at 30 million USD post-money valuation. 

I took fintech as example specifically to ensure it's not only engineers that will be needed from the beginning.

* Now, If I were to join as a founding team member (founding engineer for example), what kind of salary, ESOPs one should expect as minimum?

* If I were to join after 2-3 engineers are already hired (so not founding engg anymore), what is realistic expectation? 

* What are some questions I must ask to evaluate if the offer and equity I am being given is good or not.

(I know there's probably no way to generalise a "good/bad offer" as that likely depends also on very specific situation of the startup - like what problem is it trying to tackle, and what is the potential of it, etc. So feel free to share your experience as well if not advice)

Evaluating risk of joining a seed stage startup

Hi everyone, this is my first post in Grapevine. I’ve received an offer to join a startup in the logistics field as a founding employee in the product team. Before I accept, I’d appreciate any advice on what to check regarding:

1. The team
2. The problem statement
3. Salary
4. ESOPs & equity (percentage, timeline, buyback, etc.)

Please let me know if there is anything else I need to check before. Basically looking for red flags in the last minute 😅
Thanks in advance!

Joining as a founding employee - checks

Product Designer

How much equity should i ask in a seed funded company as one of the founding engineers?

Welcome to Office Gossip's Private Community

Looking forward to some nice stories from the community. Some positive, some not so positive - what made you take a pay cut?

Have you ever taken a pay cut for a job? Share your reasons 💵

I take a pay cut every year due to inflation. Involuntarily, of course.

Corporate Strategist

Welcome to Personal Finance's Private Community

I got a offer where i will get the equity. Does people really make money when company get sold considering in my case if i get 1% equity.

Also how does it work? Suppose when we start valuation of the company is 1 cr so my part will be 1L. Now in the next round suppose the valuation is 10cr then does it increase my equity to 10L or it dilute my % of equity?

Suppose if the company is sold at 100cr, do i really get 1 cr? Kindly let me know how it works and really people make money or not if it get sold.

How does equity works for founding engineer?

Engineering Manager

How much equity should be asked in case you are hired as founding engineer?

How much equity should be asked in case of founding engineer?

Welcome to Business Roles's Private Community

I recently got an offer from early stage startup with a paycut from my current salary. Currently I am working at a MNC with monotonous work and learning. Should I join the startup?

Early Stage Startups

Operation Manager

Hello grapevines!
Need your help/opinion here.
I work for a big corp. ~6YOE. 48L.

The work culture here seems a bit off. Constant pressure to compete and snatch the work and prove oneself. Chaos is being glorified. Onsite team is unresponsive and hiding information. Asking for a KT is being judged upon(expectation is apparently to read through the code). Everyone is trying to earn brownie points by impressing the manage because no one seems to know what to work upon. Technical ability is being looked down upon in the name of domain knowledge.

I switched recently to upskill and grow, but seems like it was a wrong choice.

I’m looking for early stage startups to switch to. I know the current market situation is bad, but I’d take the risk as long as I’m getting to expose myself to good problem statements and less bullshit.

Looking to join early stage startups

Hi I'm currently working on lending side in an Indian Bank. I got offer with a 60% hike in CTC( 30% in fixed). Should I take it as I'm sceptical since the new company is small and not as established.  The new role is with the founder however it does not seem to be structured. my current prospects in the current company are limited to a 15 % appraisal and maybe a promotion

Confused whether to switch.

How much ESOPs can I ask from an early stage startup (incubated). Valuation is around 12 cr. 
I have agreed to take a 50% paycut on my fixed, but not sure about ESOPs. Please advice.

ESOPs doubts

I recently worked at a startup and it was terrible. 

To be honest, I still worked at one of the better ones but it just sucked. 

Some of the clear downsides I see 

- Survival mode leads to chaos. You can be treated anyway and asked to leave whenever  even though you left big opportunities to be here 
- Brand loss to find next job (Big problem)
- Trying to make you feel unworthy(Doesn't bother me but I have seen people lose self confidence)
- Loss of opportunity to build real skills like building sustainable teams for the long run

I think over all working at a startup especially early teams is a losing proposition. Do it only if -
 - you know the founders/team well 
- you know the industry and market well and it is a bet you personally believe in
- you are secure enough in life that if you go back to your job, you will easily get employed 


For middle class kids, startups are the worst bets one can take.

Working at startups is terrible

How much does a core team member gets in equity in an early stage startup?

Hi everyone, I joined a startup back in May which started in May itself. I wrote the first line of code and it has been the backend work since then and have hired a few interns along the way. 

I took some pay cut to join this startup and i didn't receive any share/ESOPs as well in my offer letter. but whenever i talk to my friends who have worked or are working in these types of companies, ask me to ask for the ESOPs/equity from my founder. 

I did talk about  equity/ESOPs before accepting my offer letter but that time, they said, you will be issued ESOPs later on when we raise some funding. We will make some ESOPs plan when we raise funding. 

I know that our company has only raised friends and family round of amount near to 1cr. 

Now I need advice on.. should i bring up this conversation again with the company's founder ? 
And how much percentage of equity should I be asking..? 

 given that I am giving my 101% daily and leading the backend team.. although i have industry experience of only 3 years but have good academic achievements and has completed graduation in computer science in tier-1 college.

How to ask for ESOPs when you are a founding engineer

My profile: EX. Founder turned Product+ strategy person
YOE: 5+
ESOPs: 80 lakhs 
Cliff: 1 year
Vesting period: 48 months

I am still thinking after how many years it will be valuable given the liquidity is very rare for ESOPs. Any thoughts?

Are your ESOPs worth it?

Product Owner

I recently got an offer for a founding engineer role at a very early stage startup. The product is not out yet and the role is meant to be building the initial product to be sold to customers who have showed interest in it. The startup is in the payment ops space.

The comp offered is 15lpa and equity of 10lac or 0.5% whichever is higher. I have 3.5yrs of experience and left my job in October last year. I had an exponential growth in my package while moving companies and made 45lpa + ESOPS in my last job, starting with 4.5lpa as a fresher.

I know that I might not be able to get the same comp now given the scenarios in the software and tech industry. 

I wanted to know how to best analyse a comp package for a founding engineer role, particularly at this point in time?

Risk of joining as a founding engineer?

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