> If you're an early, senior engineer at a startup, you might be offered 1% of the company.
The alternative for the senior engineer is to start a clone competitor with 25% ownership.
The reason an engineer accepts 1% is because: 1. they would be starting their horse after the race has started, 2. they don’t have the skills to be a CTO or found a team, 3. they don’t want to take the risk. Those 3 things are worth the real money, not just being an engineer.
If an engineer wants to own 25% at founding, they need to become a founder rather than bitch about the reality that your employer will pay you as little as possible to acheive what they want. Oh, and mathematically a founder clearly can’t give 25% to more than 4 senior engineers that join subsequently ,and why should they?
The alternative for the senior engineer is to start a clone competitor with 25% ownership.
The reason an engineer accepts 1% is because: 1. they would be starting their horse after the race has started, 2. they don’t have the skills to be a CTO or found a team, 3. they don’t want to take the risk. Those 3 things are worth the real money, not just being an engineer.
If an engineer wants to own 25% at founding, they need to become a founder rather than bitch about the reality that your employer will pay you as little as possible to acheive what they want. Oh, and mathematically a founder clearly can’t give 25% to more than 4 senior engineers that join subsequently ,and why should they?