If I had two offers, one from a startup with lower base pay but with equity, and one from a big corporate job with higher salary but no equity, question is: which would you choose if you were me and why?

likehelpful
Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at

Base pay every time. Equity doesn't mean much to me anymore, been burned too many times.

like

In this economy, startups can be a very scary thing. If I were you I would go with the sure thing. If you find the startup starts blowing up and becoming incredibly successful you can always apply again because if they wanted you once they will want you again. Startups are grind because they expect everyone to take on multiple roles and where many hats. This is regardless of your position and only my personal experience. Go with your gut. And good luck to you whatever choice you decide to make!

like

I'd personally take the corporate job. I don't know what the start up is and wouldn't roll the dice on equity in it unless I had very good reason to think it'd actually be worth something down the road. Without any more info, higher salary is the easy choice for me.

likesmart

Those are good things to consider. Thank you

like

I did this choice years ago, took the start-up route and regret it. Startups are a grind for the C-suite to profit. I suggest you take the path that you can see yourself doing financially and physically well a few years into the job role.

like

I hadn’t thought about the harder grind. Thanks I’ll consider the work life balance

If you’re analyst level, take the corporate job. You’ll probably meet better mentors, and the equity at a start up is rarely worth anything. Wait until you have more money before you roll the dice

likesmart

Good points! I would have to agree

Equity is usually a facade in start ups. Only a handful get to IPO stage. The corporate is better for now. All the best.

like

Thank you! I’ll take this info into consideration!

like

Great question and deeply personal - my experience is what do you value most at this stage in your career; pay or learning?

I've had a great experience with both start-ups and corporate (your mileage may vary). Start ups offered a crash course in up-skilling, generalist skillsets and the ability to network. All valuable transferable skills to pivot in leadership.

But, if you're a seasoned professional or executive, and comp is the most important factor - then likely corporate. Your autonomy is more rigid, your scope is better defined and your reach across the business is less diverse than a start-up. higher pay and more focused.

As others mentioned, equity is a mixed bag. I know folks who've retired from it and others who've walked away from it. Money isn't everything - but you need it to support your lifestyle.

I've also seen start up salaries grow - significantly - as the business scales, and is sold or acquired.

like

Thanks for the added comment. It seems much more complicated to go with a start up. I’ll consider that when deciding!

Are you >25? Do you have a family?

At most 10% of startups exit. If they lay you off, you will either have to pony up $ to exercise and hold, or abandon that equity. Say you spend $20k to exercise, and they never exit.

The corporate job is for grownups.

like

Senior Manager 4.

If all else was equal, which role has the job responsibilities that you prefer? This doesn't count for your entire decision, but is something to consider.

For me it depends more about what you are solving for. Long term career versus salary versus work you enjoy etc

I would ask myself 1 question.

Can I help make this startup into a global player?
If yes go for the startup if no stay safe my friend.

Most startups fail so the equity is worthless

I consciously choose corporate job. I had to be start up employee and it don't worth it any time. equity just will be works if you are the one of the founder.

Related Posts

Anyone know any good mortgage lenders in the DC area or in general? Making a little over 80k, with a 720+ credit score, trying to see if I can get approved for any new home buyer programs. Thanks in advance.

like

Hi,
I am looking to renew my contract with a telecom giant in Toronto, Canada . I am a back end java developer with experience in micro services. Overall experience of 6 years . What is the market per hour rate for the above skills ? Don’t want to undersell myself . Need your insights !
Thank you !

like
like

How do maternity benefits work for NJ? 16 weeks paid leave?

like

I have BCBS and have been having a hard time getting everything approved and set up. This process was much smoother when I went through it the first time in 2018. Anyone else’s having these issues? Is Win Fertility still the place that handles it?

like

We are just starting out on our adoption journey and have sent in some initial bills from our adoption attorney to the Pathways email address. Does anyone know how long it usually takes to hear back from that inbox? It's been about a week so far.

like

Thinking ahead for next year
With the Pathway to Parenthood program which insurance provider have you used (Anthem BCBS or UHC) ?

like

51% of americans apparently would get a vaccine (survey from Axios). Would you?

like

How is productivity measured for in-house attorneys? Is there any analog of billable hours for in-house lawyers?

like

Any thoughts on iCapital?

like

Any idea why certain of the larger biglaw firms do not allow descriptive associate website bios unlike the more middle v100 firms?

like

Let that sink in 😂😂 ..🤓

Post Photo
funnylike

Whats the most reliable among german cars? I am worried about paying a lot for maintenance and repairs but also dont want a japanese tin can

like

Hi fishes ,I am supposed to join tomorrow Amdocs, what documents they ask for BGV check ?

Any referrals for information security analyst in EU countries??

like

Is there anything more pathetic than a sad dog 🥹

Post Photo
like

“The shaft is not always welcome, but but hole always is.”

likefunny

Overheard on LinkedIn

Post Photo
likefunny

What is a good alternative to coffee to stay awake throughout the day? (other than sleeping 8 hours...)

Additional Posts in Salary Negotiations

Got offered 68k after 2 years as a contractor (62.5k) doing project management/business admin in a tech department at a Fortune 500 bank. I have an A.S degree and working on my bachelor’s/masters may 2024. I negotiated to 84k NYC. I have seen interns get offered 38 per hour (79k) for internship positions with a similar role.

Thoughts? Should I go higher? I do my job well that’s why they decided to keep me as a contractor after my internship.

like

Anyone ever pay for a prep service for an interview with Amazon or any other FAANGs for a non tech role?

like

Anybody know salary range for VP Operations for GS in SLC?

What is a good salary for a director in NY?

like

I have a friend moving to North Carolina in a few months. Does anyone know what the salary range is for a Commercial Banker job grade 10 at Fifth Third?

like

I’m currently in the process of being converted from contractor to permanent. In my initial conversations I was under the impression that I was in a different pay grade and asked for a salary 25k higher than the max allotted for my position. I feel like it gave the impression that I don’t know what I’m doing. Any suggestion how I can recover from this?

like

I finally got a raise (after 10 years) from 45k to 50k with less than 10k in incentives while others who are just starting at lower positions make more than me..I want to bring this up but don’t want to come off in a bad way considering they finally gave me a raise this year.

like

What would everyone think would be a good salary for a senior manager of digital product and strategy for an established fintech company? Comparably has 179k base as the median. Recruiter mentioned 173 as their all in top.

like

Considering working from India for a couple of years due to personal reasons. Any advice for Salary expectations/negotiations? Haven't worked in India for over a decade.

Senior consultant, came into Deloitte with over 14 YOE (industry), in the FSI -> IM space, expertise & experience in buy side asset management.

If you are open/willing to offer referrals, happy to talk. Any insights are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

like

Should I Go Back and Reneg? Recently I was offered a role as a Project Implementation Manager (In Retirement Services) .The salary range for Colorado residents was 65-89K. I’m located in NY so the recruiter said he would try to get me more. Ultimately he came back at 90K which is a bit inline with that I was seeing on Glassdoor but approx looks like I may leave 10-12K on the table. I accepted already but may get an offer from another HR company in account management around 90-100K. Need advice

I was approached on LinkedIn for an early career recruiting role in DFW, TX. I don't have direct experience, but I have the university experience/connections from working in career services. This is the first time I've considered work outside of higher education. I said my salary expectations are minimum $90k and that didn't seem to be an issue. Am I asking too little, too much? How can I know I'm getting the best salary and not just settling at the low end of the range?

like

Started a new job a year ago, high performer. My manager suggested a promotion to Product Manager since that‘s the work I’m doing, but that would be a 50% raise. Higher ups decided instead to make a “new role” (not PM), that has no analog in the company and is hard to price via Glassdoor, etc. I feel like this is to limit my promotion salary to something like 10% from where it currently is. Is there anything I can do? FWIW: I have a PhD from top 5 program and am working in that field. Thanks!

likehelpful

Got an offer for Sr. Financial Analyst for 85k & 10% annual bonus. What's a good counteroffer? I told the recruiter 95k-110k when I first interviewed. This position is 100% remote, headquartered in VA. I live in NYC. Have roughly 2 YOE.

Thanks.

like

How realistic is it to land an AD position as a fresh grad (with a doctorates) and a handful of pharma & FDA interships? Context: I'll have over a year of (consistent) work experience at a large pharma company and I have prior leadership/mgt experience (< 10 yrs) in a gov't role prior to changing careers and pursuing a doctorates.

Also, whats the pay difference between Sr Manager and AD at a large pharma company? TIA!

like

Looking to get into implementation at paycore. Anyone have any salary or info on it? Would anyone recommend them as a good company to get started in implementation?

like

I have been in my current job for 1 year now as a booking coordinator for a logistics company. When I started I had no idea of what my workload would be, now I noticed that my coworkers took the opportunity to pass most of their job to me. I’m burned out, can barely take break and end my days totally drained and exhausted, also the same people is harassing me with questions like: “why are you working that slow?” Or the “quality of your job is questionable because…..” continue in comments

What's the best form of compensation to ask for and why?

My employers' CEO just announced that they just received $7 million from investors. He wants to use that money to offer incentives to employees that hussle and drive more revenue for the company. We're not sure what those incentives look like yet, but here are some post-announcement rumors from my co-workers:

Cash bonuses, raises, profit-sharing, company equity, 401k match, etc.

like

So glad I found this bowl. How do you go about negotiating your salary? I applied for a new role and was offered the job. But the pay we haven’t discussed yet. I never did this and heck I don’t know where to start.

like

What are tips for salary negotiations? I'm fairly new to my registered representative role so I'm not sure if that'll impact my ability to negotiate? Any insights or tips will be greatly appreciated.

like

Program Manager Healthcare Foundation $85,000. Worth it? Or too low?

like

New to Fishbowl?

Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
That was just a preview…
Sign Up to see all discussions
  • Discover what it’s like to work at companies from real professionals
  • Get candid advice from people in your field in a safe space
  • Chat and network with other professionals in your field
Sign up in seconds to unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.

Already a user?
Login here

Share

Embed this post

Copy and paste embed code on your site

Preview

Download the
Fishbowl app

See what’s happening in your industry
from the palm of your hand.

A phone with Fishbowl app

Scan your QR code to download
Fishbowl app on your mobile

Download app

Sign up for free to view this conversation on Fishbowl

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Already have an account? Log in

Sign up for free to continue using Fishbowl

By continuing you agree to Terms of Use(New) and Privacy Policy(New)
Messaging rates may apply

Already have an account? Log in

For account settings, visit Fishbowl on Desktop Browser or

General

Legal