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Pro
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It depends on your risk for appetite. $275k/year in RSUs at a private company could ultimately be worth zero or your ticket to retirement if they actually IPO under favorable circumstances. After being at a few startups who were "going to IPO soon" and never have, I'm personally a little skeptical of IPO timelines, especially in this market.
You won't get nearly the same equity comp at a FAANG but it will be pretty much guaranteed money. You'd likely have a smaller base at a FAANG but would likely get bonus as well, so TC would be in the ballpark.
As in house counsel, you make money by taking risks and chasing leverage. I had 4 in house jobs. First one was a roller coaster. Made tons of money, then my equity crashed. Did well on the merger though. Second in house job was at a company in ch 11. Helped take it out of ch 11 but it had no chance. Left before it went into ch 22. Third job was at a sponsored company. Worked my ass off. Everything was going well until 2010. Weathered that and made a fortune when it merged (years after the sponsor sold out). Think stock options at $8 that vested at $110/ 401k match at $2 a share that paid out at the $108. Road out the new merged company to retirement. I never made it past director level and retired with VHNW. If I only went to stable companies, I would not have retired with anything near what I have. If you want to play it safe and give up the upside, wait out for the job at the established company that you don’t have.
I recently left a role many would kill for at FAANG, for one of the buzzy pre-IPO AI startups. Have definitely had some cold feet moments, but your comment really makes me feel better — left because you don’t get anywhere without taking risks, and failure (personal or a company) is sometimes even better experience and resume building than success.
Pro
I take that any day
Same. Also curious if this is the initial or negotiated offer. Other than OpenAI and Anthropic, I haven’t seen posted pay range for startups at this level other than for more senior roles.
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Yes that equity is per year. I’m not sure how that compares to FAANG types for someone of my seniority since I’ve heard they tend to be generous with RSU comp as well
Chief
I doubt that much per year for a public company at your level
Does the 275 vest per year? Or over several years.
Pro
Jesus effing Christ lol. Where do you people find these roles. Of COURSE take this, comp is bananas for a 7th year and you’ll never get IPO experience at FAANG.
Chief
Thats crazy if you get $275k in equity a year
Rising Star
What happens to your RSU’s if they get acquired? Because you’ll likely get das boot in an M&A…
Rising Star
I’ve gone through a few acquisitions and seen all sorts of shenanigans. The first one they said our comp wasn’t changing, and on Day 1 when we signed our new hire paperwork everyone got a 25% pay cut. That was fun. On another the RSU’s had so many caveats they were practically illusory unless everything went perfect. I’ve never gone through an acquisition where there wasn’t some type of cut to G&A.
Point being, pre-IPO AI companies are going bust or getting snapped up. And if there’s a high likelihood of getting acquired, you need to protect yourself in writing. A boss verbally saying “don’t worry we’ll be fine” is worth what you paid for it…
F