8 ms·

Roblox is dilution-maxxing, stock based comp is up 10x since EOY 2020 whereas revenue is only up 3x. SBC is also ~ 1/3 of revenue. It's pretty cool to get shar

by Guzba 2y ago

Roblox is dilution-maxxing, stock based comp is up 10x since EOY 2020 whereas revenue is only up 3x. SBC is also ~ 1/3 of revenue. It's pretty cool to get shareholders to pay your employees so you can be called "operating cash flow positive" as if their comp isn't an expense.

staticautomatic 2y ago
IDK about the stock but I’ve interviewed there and their cash comp is legit FU money. Am I misunderstanding you?
- Guzba 2y ago
  I'm referring to companies financial statements where these numbers are reported. It doesn't mean the cash comp isn't high or that a specific job offer won't have a lot of cash comp. What it does mean is that, in aggregate, Roblox has issued $1B in new shares to employees in the last 12 months, diluting shareholders by 4% or so. This is the most significant factor making the company cash-flow positive while remaining not profitable. It's essentially the same as investors putting more money into the business constantly.
- endtime 2y ago
  I'm a pretty senior IC at Roblox, and my new hire offer was 40% cash / 60% RSUs. It's now closer to 33/67 with refresher grants. Roblox pays very competitively (see levels.fyi). The apparent strategy is to try to hire lots of long-tenured L6+ Googlers (seriously, it's crazy how many former Googlers I work with).
  - ckdarby 2y ago
    Not a good sign for Roblox. Yes, many smart people, but they weren't industry changing (Google almost never loses) and they didn't get or turned down Google's renewal program to retain talent. Looks like a lot who wanted the high pay, but coast along and leverage their past experience to not be dared questioned.
    - eru 2y ago
      Wouldn't that be a fully generalised argument against ever hiring anyone who ever worked at Google? (Btw, some people also leave Google for other reasons.)
      - Jensson 2y ago
        If you want people who know how to build stable large scale infrastructure it is hard to go wrong by hiring people from Google. Google rewrites all their products all the time, they shut down and launch new internal systems just as often as they do external, and it is still stable, so the people from there has probably been through a few rewrites of some infrastructure part and knows what are required for that to work.
        paulryanrogers 2y ago
        For some definitions of 'stable'. As a user having to swap apps and lose functionality randomly makes it all feel very tenuous.
        eru 2y ago
        Google product decisions (and especially what to shut down) isn't really made by the same people who keep the infrastructure up and running.
    - endtime 2y ago
      > coast along and leverage their past experience to not be dared questioned. This has not been my experience at all.
  - pm90 2y ago
    Having lots of ex Googlers could honestly go either way. I wouldn’t automatically assume thats a good thing. A former mid size company that I worked at had the same scenario and it was definitely not good. They over engineered not just the systems but literally everything else, including the promotion process which involved the whole horse and pony show and was a constant distraction to shipping features while the companys finances struggled.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- paulpauper 2y ago
  Roblox's salary ranges from $140861 in total compensation ... Levels.fyi collects anonymous and verified salaries from current and former employees of Roblox. does not seem like fu to me
  - outside415 2y ago
    They pay very well for senior roles . Like $700k+ tc
    - Mistletoe 2y ago
      Beginning to see how they aren’t profitable…
    - skeeter2020 2y ago
      what's " + tc"?
      - dflock 2y ago
        Total Compensation
      - iosjunkie 2y ago
        I'm reading that as $700,000 or more total compensation.
        rvba 2y ago
        What's total compensation? Doea this mean 700k base salary (real cash) + bonus (stock options)? On a side note, do senior engineers get company cars?
        erehweb 2y ago
        Total compensation means $700K, some of it being cash, some of it being stock. Company cars are pretty rare in the US, since basically everyone has a car already.
MuffinFlavored 2y ago
> SBC stock-based compensation

by Guzba 2y ago

staticautomatic 2y ago

IDK about the stock but I’ve interviewed there and their cash comp is legit FU money. Am I misunderstanding you?

Guzba 2y ago
I'm referring to companies financial statements where these numbers are reported. It doesn't mean the cash comp isn't high or that a specific job offer won't have a lot of cash comp. What it does mean is that, in aggregate, Roblox has issued $1B in new shares to employees in the last 12 months, diluting shareholders by 4% or so. This is the most significant factor making the company cash-flow positive while remaining not profitable. It's essentially the same as investors putting more money into the business constantly.
endtime 2y ago
I'm a pretty senior IC at Roblox, and my new hire offer was 40% cash / 60% RSUs. It's now closer to 33/67 with refresher grants. Roblox pays very competitively (see levels.fyi). The apparent strategy is to try to hire lots of long-tenured L6+ Googlers (seriously, it's crazy how many former Googlers I work with).
- ckdarby 2y ago
  Not a good sign for Roblox. Yes, many smart people, but they weren't industry changing (Google almost never loses) and they didn't get or turned down Google's renewal program to retain talent. Looks like a lot who wanted the high pay, but coast along and leverage their past experience to not be dared questioned.
  - eru 2y ago
    Wouldn't that be a fully generalised argument against ever hiring anyone who ever worked at Google? (Btw, some people also leave Google for other reasons.)
    - Jensson 2y ago
      If you want people who know how to build stable large scale infrastructure it is hard to go wrong by hiring people from Google. Google rewrites all their products all the time, they shut down and launch new internal systems just as often as they do external, and it is still stable, so the people from there has probably been through a few rewrites of some infrastructure part and knows what are required for that to work.
      - paulryanrogers 2y ago
        For some definitions of 'stable'. As a user having to swap apps and lose functionality randomly makes it all feel very tenuous.
        eru 2y ago
        Google product decisions (and especially what to shut down) isn't really made by the same people who keep the infrastructure up and running.
  - endtime 2y ago
    > coast along and leverage their past experience to not be dared questioned. This has not been my experience at all.
- pm90 2y ago
  Having lots of ex Googlers could honestly go either way. I wouldn’t automatically assume thats a good thing. A former mid size company that I worked at had the same scenario and it was definitely not good. They over engineered not just the systems but literally everything else, including the promotion process which involved the whole horse and pony show and was a constant distraction to shipping features while the companys finances struggled.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
paulpauper 2y ago
Roblox's salary ranges from $140861 in total compensation ... Levels.fyi collects anonymous and verified salaries from current and former employees of Roblox. does not seem like fu to me
- outside415 2y ago
  They pay very well for senior roles . Like $700k+ tc
  - Mistletoe 2y ago
    Beginning to see how they aren’t profitable…
  - skeeter2020 2y ago
    what's " + tc"?
    - dflock 2y ago
      Total Compensation
    - iosjunkie 2y ago
      I'm reading that as $700,000 or more total compensation.
      - rvba 2y ago
        What's total compensation? Doea this mean 700k base salary (real cash) + bonus (stock options)? On a side note, do senior engineers get company cars?
        erehweb 2y ago
        Total compensation means $700K, some of it being cash, some of it being stock. Company cars are pretty rare in the US, since basically everyone has a car already.

MuffinFlavored 2y ago

> SBC stock-based compensation