Hot answers tagged job-offer
23
I would run from this "offer" as far as I can. I've been in startups for over a decade and have long lost count of how many times I was approached by someone who was "2-3 months away from raising funds". If I were you, my answer would be:"that is fantastic, why don't you guys call me when you have the funds, I will keep my fingers crossed for you".
Being ...
8
You are being taken advantage of. Having someone apply for a part time position but not being upfront that it is work with no pay is not ethical. 30-40K salary with benefits is low for the amount of responsibilities being expected of you. I have doubts about the trustworthiness of the owner. Being able to speak Chinese and English fluently is a great ...
7
Considering you are going to get "near market value" for your salary for your role, you are in a pretty good position where it isn't costing you much.
A lot of people would take a 10% - 20% pay cut just to do work they love, so if you think you would really enjoy this role then that might be as good a deciding factor as any. You can then consider the ...
6
There are a number of red flags in your message that seem like big problems to me. Did this company advertise to fill a position, but neglect to mention the position was part time and unpaid? If so, that tells you something about the nature of this company. Are they offering you a definite paid position, or just the promise of one if various external ...
5
The only reason to even consider this job is if you have zero other offers now and you need to get experience and build your resume.
Make sure you get everything in writing - the responsibilities, how you'll be measured, and all details of the compensation package - specifically including salary, benefits, bonus, and most importantly how much equity and how ...
5
Ask to see the cap table. It should have a line item for stock options for early employees. That line item should provide enough room for all the employees they need to hire in the first year. A typical amount would be 15% or 20%. Ask them what their hiring plan is and how they plan to allocate the stock options. If they need to hire a lot of people to make ...
4
Pirate and ninja references stopped being funny about 5 years ago at least. So I would drop that. Also, you have a grammatical error just three words into the paragraph. This post will not attract professionals.
Having said that, I think it's OK to be quirky, you just have to do it right.
4
Take the job and learn what goes on in a big company. Off course at the same time start working on your business idea as well.
Benefits of working for a company
It pays the bills.
You learn how a company works.
Learn about company processes such as development, marketing, team work etc.
You get to identify issues that a company struggles with
You get ...
4
Options should get vested over time. You should not lose them when you leave, except for the vesting schedule (which is normal).
Read this: Forming a new software startup, how do I allocate ownership fairly?
Consider where you are. You're not a founder, I gather. Are you in the second band? The third? How important is tech to this company? If it's a ...
4
We hire a couple interns a year for web design, development and internet marketing. Interviewing for internships is similar to interviewing for a real job and your starting salary can certainly be negotiated if you feel that it is warranted.
If you are very experienced already and are going to bring a ton of value to the company then they shouldn't pay you ...
4
For perspective, consider a job offer where you'll be paid 100,000 per year, but you aren't allowed to know which currency it'll be in. GBP is pretty good, but ZWD not so much.
It would be great to know why they feel the need to keep this secret and without a really good reason, I'd consider this a red flag. You have to assume that the shares are worthless ...
3
We are need a super-motivated pirate/ninja/rockstar/(insert more web 2.0 buzz words)
I think you're a bit mistaken; your add isn't informal, it speaks to a specific sub-culture of the overall software developer community.
"Informality" is about, well, the absence of formality -- casual dressing, a certain tone, low power-distance.
Your add is about a ...
3
It's a starbucks culture thing. They start new stores by using "seed" personnel from existing stores. Those "seeds" are responsible for hiring people who already tend towards the bubbly side of their personality. Then when you put multiple bubbly people loving people in the same space, they reinforce each other until the store just feels happy.
This is ...
3
This is a big red flag.
They don't think you're important enough to take your concerns seriously
They don't share company information and are more likely than usual to hide things from you in the future
Other employees likely didn't get this information either, and perhaps aren't sophisticated enough to care; great candidates may be likely to join this ...
2
Very simple: do it yourself for a day. Spend a day at the mall handing out these flyers with coupons. See what happens. You'll be able to track the results thanks to the codes.
Then do the math: if it brought you 0 customers, you know that it's not worth paying someone to do this. If it worked really well, then taking a small discount into account (because ...
2
Simple - assume they don't raise the funding, assume they don't ever pay you the $30k - $40k since it's dependent on the funding. Not to mention that $30k - $40k at a startup fulltime likely means really long hours which means that equates to probably $15/hour. You can make that at In-n-Out. Are there reasons you'd do this if those things never happened? ...
2
Doesn't sound like a good deal to me, but then I don't know anything about your situation, or the company. If you can live on $30k and feel really passionate about the business, then maybe it is worth a shot.
Given you are taking a massive gamble, assuming that you can earn way more than $30k elsewhere, you should be rewarded for that, so losing your stock ...
2
Maybe maybe not.
The company may be paying you with new shares issued so by the time you receive your shares there may be a million more issued so your percentage of the company would be less.
Even if you receive financing your shares are worth $0.00 unless someone is willing to pay for it. Company receiving financing doesn't mean someone will pay for ...
2
That's a mess. Here's a big problem: They are issuing you stock, which they claim to be worth $8/share. Over the course of a year, you're going to get stock "worth" $58,000. And then you'll have to pay tax on $58,000. Where's the money to pay the taxes going to come from?
If it were me, I'd drop the entire idea of getting paid my "market rate." I'd ...
1
You have to look at a few things:
Option vesting is fine but what is the price for the stock when or if you decide to exercise them?
What if any revenue sharing will be offered once you go do this full time?
How will the options vest? 25, 50, 75, 100 or in some other manner.
What will happen if the company goes under? Are you as co founder be responsible ...
1
You are either an employee or a partner.
If you are an employee than you should get a fair salary, taking a salary that is a bit below market rate because you believe in the company is ok - but as an employee you should never take major financial risk for the company (including not taking a salary that is significantly under the fair market value based on ...
1
It's your call, but the risk that you'll work there for a year or two with nothing to show in the end (money wise) is great. So they are paying you a substandard salary only to pay you what a developer should be making once the company is successful? If you want to take the risk I'd ask them to commit in writing (plus remedies if they don't own up to their ...
1
I'd be asking these questions:
Does the company have a product yet or would you be the one developing it for market?
Has the company raised any outside capital? If so, ask to see the Cap Chart.
Have any other team members been granted stock or options? If so, under what terms.
Are any other team members accepting well-below-market compensation like ...
1
Your job post comes across as a company who is a bit pretentious. It's good that you are bootstrapping, but apart from that, your startup's history is yet to be played out. The buzz words are really marketing buzz words to stroke someone's ego. Would you want to hire a egotistical rockstar?
If I was a potential person looking to work at a startup, I would ...
1
Depends on who you want to attract. If you want to attract a pirate/ninja/rockstar, then you DEFINITELY want to use the above language. If you want to attract a seasoned "professional", then you want to use a more 'professional' approach. If you're building a pirate/ninja/rockstar culture, then do it from day 1 and do it with your job posting, interview ...
1
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1
On the one hand, you're right that the pay is very low for top-level leadership right now.
Keep in mind, though, that as a contractor, you're by definition going to gross more. How much of that $200/hr is going to taxes? I'd venture to guess around 30% or more (I know that's how much of mine goes, but I know the income tax percentage goes up as you make ...
1
If your primary driver is money, and you can bill yourself out at over 80 percent at 200 dollars an hour then by all means may maintain your relationship as a consultant.
Money is rarely the best motivator for an affective startup leader. There is a significant difference between consultant and "inside guy." Making that move for money is a bad choice.
1
They pay their employees well compared to others in food service. They give all their employees health benefits. They respect their employees from the top down, and value opinions. They provide a real career path, where for some its a job, some can stay with the company a long time. They hire people who fit their culture, those who have energetic ...
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