6 ms·

The issue they are raising is specifically that, $380k standardized salary band, what role is this? That number seems unsustainable.

by neill 4y ago

nemo44x 4y ago
It'a pretty typical for higher level engineer roles and senior director and above manager roles for people in high cost of living markets.
lumost 4y ago
6 figure wages were common for successful professionals in the 90s, why would you believe that inflation, economic growth, and increasing income inequality hasn’t driven comp to roughly 4x that for successful professionals over the last 30 years?
mountainriver 4y ago
Nope this would be a standard band at staff+ level swe at a successful company
lupire 4y ago
And they gave that number out before they assessed candidate level. But maybe that was recruiting BS as the pay for the max plausible level.
- htormey 4y ago
  Well yeah, that’s what they think the candidates pay level will be. If the candidate doesn’t perform well in the interview they won’t get that offer.
- Infinitesimus 4y ago
  380 isn't even close to the max possible level. If this was an Engineering role, that a mid level salary. Your past experience can be a proxy for the role and level you're targeted for and thus, the comp target.
  - PenguinCoder 4y ago
    Mid-level salary where? That is an insane salary _anywhere_, no wonder the market is beginning to correct for those inflated "mid level" numbers.
    - WaxProlix 4y ago
      Mid level in SF, Seattle, and the bay, at any tier 1 paying company. You also have places like Amazon and MS up here in the Seattle area who target more like the 70th percentile for pay, where as an L6 senior SWE new offers are still topping 500k/yr. The market is hot, and might be in a bubble, but these are comp numbers that you could have seen even five or six years ago at the FB, Snap, Lyft, even Googles of the world.
- bombcar 4y ago
  It also lets the candidates talk about it even if they aren’t extended an offer - someone they mention it to might be the candidate the company is looking for.
- jen20 4y ago
  Usually positions are based on reqs rather than who walks through the door. The req will have a level attached, the level will have a salary band attached. I don’t understand what you’re trying to say here.
htormey 4y ago
No. This is well paid but not out of the ordinary for someone working at a top tier tech company in NYC/SF Bay Area. Think Facebook, Apple, etc. see https://www.levels.fyi/ https://www.levels.fyi/ for levels and comparison. Some of those companies are doing hiring freezes right now but many are not. Salary bands are adjusted within the USA by zones where NYC/SF/Seattle are zone 1, zone 2 is 90% of base, zone 3 is 85%. With equity component staying the same. Europe/Brazil/Canada are on a totally different lower pay scale.
- neill 4y ago
  This is extremely out of the ordinary- Levels.fyi lists a salary of $224,000 for a Staff level SWE at Google
  - htormey 4y ago
    No you are incorrect. That 224k is base at google not including equity. Staff engineers at google get a bonus and the majority of their comp is in equity, just like coin. Source, I have a lot of friends who are former/current staff engineers at a variety of Bay Area companies. I also was a staff engineer at coin. Also if you want to earn something like this in cash go work at Netflix when they start hiring again. They give you the option to be paid in cash.
    - neill 4y ago
      It's not incorrect, salary does not include equity. Total comp would be a combination of salary, equity, and bonuses. The OP refers to salary, not total comp. I'm using their information to reply in their thread. Happy to re-asses conversation at total comp (a different conversation) if they are referring to total comp instead of salary.
      - htormey 4y ago
        The OP is confused, I work at coinbase and that figure refers to total comp. Also levels.fyi is listing salary and not total comp for the google position he is comparing.
rco8786 4y ago
Why? Because it’s higher than you’re used to seeing? You don’t even know what role that person was applying for. Is your position that 380k is just “too high”, period? That number (or higher) has been the norm at a huge swath of stable and profitable tech companies for a decade+. I am making an assumption that 380 is total comp and not base salary. I don’t believe that Coinbase is paying 380 base salary for any non-executive position.
- itsoktocry 4y ago
  >Why? Because it’s higher than you’re used to seeing? You don’t even know what role that person was applying for. Is your position that 380k is just “too high”, period? Perhaps because the company lost half a billion dollars last quarter and is in a controversial space facing regulatory scrutiny? >That number (or higher) has been the norm at a huge swath of stable and profitable tech companies for a decade+. Yeah, stable and profitable.
  - htormey 4y ago
    "Perhaps because the company lost half a billion dollars last quarter and is in a controversial space facing regulatory scrutiny?" Wouldn't you expect people to be paid more for working in a risky space? Also, please not Coinbase just announced a hiring freeze. https://blog.coinbase.com/employee-note-an-update-on-hiring-plans-507ea4e2b6cf https://blog.coinbase.com/employee-note-an-update-on-hiring-...
  - matwood 4y ago
    > Perhaps because the company lost half a billion dollars last quarter So what? Last year COIN made $3.62B earnings. They may need to shift at some point, but I think it's incorrect to act like 1-2 bad quarters means a company should completely shift their plan. If anything, it's more important than ever to hire top people - which requires a decent salary.
    - itsoktocry 4y ago
      >If anything, it's more important than ever to hire top people - which requires a decent salary. These are not "top people", they are average people. This isn't Lake Wobegon, where all the kids are above average. >So what? Last year COIN made $3.62B earnings. Only in Silicon Valley do people say "so what" to profits and quote revenue numbers. We're literally talking about high costs. Selling dimes for a nickel is simple, but not sustainable.
kodah 4y ago
This is the average salary of someone Senior - Staff in the Bay area. Coinbase indexes on the Bay for salaries, as many other companies do.

The issue they are raising is specifically that, $380k standardized salary band, what role is this? That number seems unsustainable.

by neill 4y ago

The issue they are raising is specifically that, $380k standardized salary band, what role is this? That number seems unsustainable.

nemo44x 4y ago

It'a pretty typical for higher level engineer roles and senior director and above manager roles for people in high cost of living markets.

lumost 4y ago

6 figure wages were common for successful professionals in the 90s, why would you believe that inflation, economic growth, and increasing income inequality hasn’t driven comp to roughly 4x that for successful professionals over the last 30 years?

mountainriver 4y ago

Nope this would be a standard band at staff+ level swe at a successful company

lupire 4y ago

And they gave that number out before they assessed candidate level. But maybe that was recruiting BS as the pay for the max plausible level.

htormey 4y ago
Well yeah, that’s what they think the candidates pay level will be. If the candidate doesn’t perform well in the interview they won’t get that offer.
Infinitesimus 4y ago
380 isn't even close to the max possible level. If this was an Engineering role, that a mid level salary. Your past experience can be a proxy for the role and level you're targeted for and thus, the comp target.
- PenguinCoder 4y ago
  Mid-level salary where? That is an insane salary _anywhere_, no wonder the market is beginning to correct for those inflated "mid level" numbers.
  - WaxProlix 4y ago
    Mid level in SF, Seattle, and the bay, at any tier 1 paying company. You also have places like Amazon and MS up here in the Seattle area who target more like the 70th percentile for pay, where as an L6 senior SWE new offers are still topping 500k/yr. The market is hot, and might be in a bubble, but these are comp numbers that you could have seen even five or six years ago at the FB, Snap, Lyft, even Googles of the world.
bombcar 4y ago
It also lets the candidates talk about it even if they aren’t extended an offer - someone they mention it to might be the candidate the company is looking for.
jen20 4y ago
Usually positions are based on reqs rather than who walks through the door. The req will have a level attached, the level will have a salary band attached. I don’t understand what you’re trying to say here.

htormey 4y ago

No. This is well paid but not out of the ordinary for someone working at a top tier tech company in NYC/SF Bay Area. Think Facebook, Apple, etc. see https://www.levels.fyi/ https://www.levels.fyi/ for levels and comparison. Some of those companies are doing hiring freezes right now but many are not. Salary bands are adjusted within the USA by zones where NYC/SF/Seattle are zone 1, zone 2 is 90% of base, zone 3 is 85%. With equity component staying the same. Europe/Brazil/Canada are on a totally different lower pay scale.

neill 4y ago
This is extremely out of the ordinary- Levels.fyi lists a salary of $224,000 for a Staff level SWE at Google
- htormey 4y ago
  No you are incorrect. That 224k is base at google not including equity. Staff engineers at google get a bonus and the majority of their comp is in equity, just like coin. Source, I have a lot of friends who are former/current staff engineers at a variety of Bay Area companies. I also was a staff engineer at coin. Also if you want to earn something like this in cash go work at Netflix when they start hiring again. They give you the option to be paid in cash.
  - neill 4y ago
    It's not incorrect, salary does not include equity. Total comp would be a combination of salary, equity, and bonuses. The OP refers to salary, not total comp. I'm using their information to reply in their thread. Happy to re-asses conversation at total comp (a different conversation) if they are referring to total comp instead of salary.
    - htormey 4y ago
      The OP is confused, I work at coinbase and that figure refers to total comp. Also levels.fyi is listing salary and not total comp for the google position he is comparing.

rco8786 4y ago

Why? Because it’s higher than you’re used to seeing? You don’t even know what role that person was applying for. Is your position that 380k is just “too high”, period? That number (or higher) has been the norm at a huge swath of stable and profitable tech companies for a decade+. I am making an assumption that 380 is total comp and not base salary. I don’t believe that Coinbase is paying 380 base salary for any non-executive position.

itsoktocry 4y ago
>Why? Because it’s higher than you’re used to seeing? You don’t even know what role that person was applying for. Is your position that 380k is just “too high”, period? Perhaps because the company lost half a billion dollars last quarter and is in a controversial space facing regulatory scrutiny? >That number (or higher) has been the norm at a huge swath of stable and profitable tech companies for a decade+. Yeah, stable and profitable.
- htormey 4y ago
  "Perhaps because the company lost half a billion dollars last quarter and is in a controversial space facing regulatory scrutiny?" Wouldn't you expect people to be paid more for working in a risky space? Also, please not Coinbase just announced a hiring freeze. https://blog.coinbase.com/employee-note-an-update-on-hiring-plans-507ea4e2b6cf https://blog.coinbase.com/employee-note-an-update-on-hiring-...
- matwood 4y ago
  > Perhaps because the company lost half a billion dollars last quarter So what? Last year COIN made $3.62B earnings. They may need to shift at some point, but I think it's incorrect to act like 1-2 bad quarters means a company should completely shift their plan. If anything, it's more important than ever to hire top people - which requires a decent salary.
  - itsoktocry 4y ago
    >If anything, it's more important than ever to hire top people - which requires a decent salary. These are not "top people", they are average people. This isn't Lake Wobegon, where all the kids are above average. >So what? Last year COIN made $3.62B earnings. Only in Silicon Valley do people say "so what" to profits and quote revenue numbers. We're literally talking about high costs. Selling dimes for a nickel is simple, but not sustainable.

kodah 4y ago

This is the average salary of someone Senior - Staff in the Bay area. Coinbase indexes on the Bay for salaries, as many other companies do.