Need Salary/Career Suggestions

You work in a stock exchange, so you, more than anyone, are familiar with the concept of price discovery.

What something is worth = what someone is willing to pay for it

So, for ref, I also had 2 startups, I don’t have an MBA, and I don’t even have an engineering degree, but my TC is ~4X your dream CTC.

So instead of looking outwards for validation, look inwards. What are you good at? What did your startup experience give you that no one else has? Articulate it and then pitch it to whoever will listen.

Someone smart (like a founder) will recognize that you’ve been mispriced and take a chance. Until then, there’s very little chance of a company, in the absence of no salary disclosure laws, not benchmarking on your last paycheck.

@Nobody , I generally refrain from commenting on salary posts, but @carl has super valid point. Position and Sell yourself properly, rather than selling your entitlement to get 40l.

I will give a real life example.
Yday in an interview, the lady told me she expects a 50% jump. I enquired about the reason, she said because she has an 45% hike offer in hand.
You know what, it made me sad.
Had she given a good justification, probably salary benchmark and how she felt she was underpaid, or probably how she is amazing at what she does and hence deserves, I would have gladly said Yes, immediately.

Its always how you position yourself.
Think about positioning, why you are good, and have patience. It will happen.