HACKER Q&A
📣 throwawayyyy101

Salary negotiations: startup vs. established companies?


I have several offers from a range of companies -- early stage startups, late stage startups, FAANG companies, small companies, etc.

I've read guides on how to negotiate for each, but I'm at a loss as to how to handle a heterogenous situation like I've found myself in.

I know that I can't expect the same total comp or even base salary from the early stage startups as I can from the big companies.

So with this in mind, do I even have any leverage by telling startup recruiters that I have a much bigger FAANG offer? Is it totally unreasonable to ask for an equivalent total comp? Or would the equivalent be in asking for the same amount in equity?

  👤 rmk Accepted Answer ✓
Later stage startups are able to compete successfully against FAANGs on many occasions, particularly if they're pre-IPO. Early-stage startups are less likely to be able to do this. But then, the motivation for joining an early-stage company would be quite different from that for joining a late-stage startup, so you need to have concrete ideas as to what you want: the compensation with lower risk, or other benefits with lower compensation and higher risk.
👤 jppope
Just go where you want to work and try to get the comp that you want.