ychnthrowaway

Not exactly sure, any suggestion on how this data point could help me make a decision?

Great suggestions! It does give me a new prospect to look at it. "know what you want and ask for it" does sound right. Given my current alternative, what I want might be too much for the startup to take as a whole, although I do like the startup's prospect, and I always have the startup itch anyways. Looks like I do have to figure out what's more important to me.

wow so many great feedbacks! It does make me think something I never thought about before.

1. Location: I'm aware of this issue, by "competitive" I mean as compared to my current job, after factor in the location aspect.

2. Benefits: this could be tough, I could be wrong but since the company is so small, it seems the only "benefit" they could offer now would be money. But I guess benefits can be translated into money as well, and factored into the total package.

3. Equity: this is the part I don't understand much, even if I'm given certain percentage of the company, it can be easily diluted in later rounds, right? Also, if the company never goes public, what's the equity for? Given all the other randomness involved, it seems I don't have much control over this anyways, so why bother? I know it sounds stupid to not ask for equity, but I just can't see what benefit I can get from it.

4. Role: you are right there's no guarantee I'll keep the role forever. And I don't think I'll be joining as a co-founder either. But I think negotiating a title, and solidify the responsibility in the contract could be a start good enough for me.

5. Stability: while I'm not a fresh grad with years to burn anymore, I still consider myself young enough to make the jump. It will be tough, but if I'm not doing it now, I'll never be able do it ever. :)

6. The company is funded, and the founders are experienced, and already have some success under their belt before this. That's partially the reason why I'm even considering it at all.

Thanks!