6 ms·

> ...why would you give them 10% equity? Because they’re taking on a gigantic risk too?

by thatjsguy 8y ago

scarface74 8y ago
What risk?
- ryandrake 8y ago
  The huge career risk of having a string of no name companies on the resume rather than Google, Microsoft or Apple. I am quite certain I’d be much farther along in my career today had I taken the job at the big name 20 years ago instead of horsing around with a bunch of failing small companies.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    Guess what? Most software developers don’t live in Silicon Valley and never work for a FANG company, we seem to be doing okay....
    - sidlls 8y ago
      Most of those developers "doing okay" are doing significantly worse than us SV and FAANG company engineers. I save more every year now than a good number of junior engineers take home in a year, and I'm a crappy average developer not even at FAANG with a much smaller total comp than their staff. There are a tiny, tiny number of SE jobs having more than 50% of my current salary (let alone equity and other benefits and perks) just about anywhere else that isn't also a hot tech/startup market (Austin, NY, Chicago).
      - scarface74 8y ago
        The average software developer V in San Francisco makes about $190K according to salary.com. In most other major American cities outside of New York/DC area its about $140K. If you compare the cost of living in any of those cities, it starts looking a lot worse for Silicon Valley. https://qz.com/906086/san-francisco-is-actually-one-of-the-worst-paying-places-in-the-us/ https://qz.com/906086/san-francisco-is-actually-one-of-the-w... If you go the billable consultant route with the right skill set, you can get up to $200K https://www.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk=e67229f7e25ea37b https://www.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk=e67229f7e25ea37b Yes this is a realistic range. I’ve been given firm offers to do that type of work (AWS not Google) but the travel requirements would be too disruptive right now.
        ryandrake 8y ago
        Software Emgineer V on Salary.com represents the tippy top outlier of the elite senior engineer totem pole. It’s a stretch to call that an average anything. For a more realistic median salary range, just look at the figures for plain Software Engineer.
        scarface74 8y ago
        The Software Engineer V salaries at salary.com for the cities that I'm familiar with seems to represent salaries for a developer/architect with 10-15 years of experience who avoided management. But the idea that software developers can't do well in other lower cost cities without working for a FANG or even companies that most people have never heard of is another example of the SV/HN bubble.

> ...why would you give them 10% equity? Because they’re taking on a gigantic risk too?

scarface74 8y ago

What risk?

ryandrake 8y ago
The huge career risk of having a string of no name companies on the resume rather than Google, Microsoft or Apple. I am quite certain I’d be much farther along in my career today had I taken the job at the big name 20 years ago instead of horsing around with a bunch of failing small companies.
- scarface74 8y ago
  Guess what? Most software developers don’t live in Silicon Valley and never work for a FANG company, we seem to be doing okay....
  - sidlls 8y ago
    Most of those developers "doing okay" are doing significantly worse than us SV and FAANG company engineers. I save more every year now than a good number of junior engineers take home in a year, and I'm a crappy average developer not even at FAANG with a much smaller total comp than their staff. There are a tiny, tiny number of SE jobs having more than 50% of my current salary (let alone equity and other benefits and perks) just about anywhere else that isn't also a hot tech/startup market (Austin, NY, Chicago).
    - scarface74 8y ago
      The average software developer V in San Francisco makes about $190K according to salary.com. In most other major American cities outside of New York/DC area its about $140K. If you compare the cost of living in any of those cities, it starts looking a lot worse for Silicon Valley. https://qz.com/906086/san-francisco-is-actually-one-of-the-worst-paying-places-in-the-us/ https://qz.com/906086/san-francisco-is-actually-one-of-the-w... If you go the billable consultant route with the right skill set, you can get up to $200K https://www.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk=e67229f7e25ea37b https://www.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk=e67229f7e25ea37b Yes this is a realistic range. I’ve been given firm offers to do that type of work (AWS not Google) but the travel requirements would be too disruptive right now.
      - ryandrake 8y ago
        Software Emgineer V on Salary.com represents the tippy top outlier of the elite senior engineer totem pole. It’s a stretch to call that an average anything. For a more realistic median salary range, just look at the figures for plain Software Engineer.
        scarface74 8y ago
        The Software Engineer V salaries at salary.com for the cities that I'm familiar with seems to represent salaries for a developer/architect with 10-15 years of experience who avoided management. But the idea that software developers can't do well in other lower cost cities without working for a FANG or even companies that most people have never heard of is another example of the SV/HN bubble.