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bankim

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Software Engineer at Cloudera. Previously at Nimble Storage & VMware.

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FAANGs have changed the compensation game in SF Bay Area, making joining startups for potential financial gains pointless. Benefits are just icing on the cake.

I wonder what techniques startups are using to recruit quality talent in the Bay Area.

Bitwise has better diversification across top 10 currencies based on market cap. Coinbase has lower entry point of $10k minimum v/s $25k minimum required by Bitwise.

I understand not everyone works in tech but it's not unusual for Bay Area couples to make $300k-$400k per year 6-8 years out of college working in tech.

Consider an example of new grad with CS major working in major software company. Currently new grads start at $120k total package (base + RSU/stock + bonus). After maxing out 401k, taxes, rent(with roomates), car payments etc., one can save $35k-$40k per year. So for a couple having worked for 5 years each could save $35k * 5 * 2 = $350k in total. Use $250k to make downpayment to buy $1.25M home making most of mortgage interest deduction. That's how myself and most of my Indian tech friends in Bay Area bought homes. Being lucky in an IPO also helps. Above calculation assumes no student or credit card debt.

Elaborating on early exercise. Employee can choose to pre-exercise ISOs soon after starting job (before vesting) and file 83b. In this case, the difference between strike price and FMV is $0 and hence tax realized is also $0. This also starts ticker for capital gains sooner and if the company gets sold/IPO after 1 year from date of exercise and 2 year from date of grant then long term capital gains will apply and not short-term capital gains which is taxed as ordinary income.

This obviously depends on the strike price on joining the company and how much money employee is okay to lose in case company goes bust. If not all, some ISOs can be early exercised.

In my case, I early exercised around 25% of ISOs soon after joining. In hind-sight I should have early exercised more as the company did go IPO around 2 years after I started...

Never ever take a salary cut when moving from established company to a startup. In fact engineers should also take into account bonus, 401k match that will not be typically offered at a startup. No wonder most friends I speak to are more attracted to tech unicorns that have higher probability of success than early stage startups and can match or offer higher base salary than established big companies.