How much equity should an early employee get at a Gen AI startup?

Question

Hello HN,I'm a recent PhD graduate specializing in NLP and LLMs. I've been approached by a Gen AI startup and offered a researcher position with 0.3% equity, vesting over 4 years.The startup is in its early stages, with around 20-30 employees, but their product is already profitable and the company is valued in the $30&ndash;60 million range. The salary they&rsquo;re offering is slightly below the average for machine learning engineers in San Francisco, but it might seem reasonable for a startup.I'm trying to figure out if 0.3% equity is a reasonable offer for a newly graduated PhD researcher like myself. I'm not sure how to evaluate this, especially since some of my peers have received offers from big companies with packages around $300K in salary and $800K in RSUs.I'd appreciate any insights into what other early-stage employees at similar startups have been offered. What kind of equity are people typically offered in similar situations? Specific examples would be really helpful. Thanks!

pltvss · Accepted Answer

I would say it's very good and reasonable, and actually considering evaluation and company size I'd say it's actually quite a lot. For comparison I got 1% when I joined as employee number 4 and first engineer (company name: Solsten).

jdale27 · Answer

0.3% is very good for a company that already has 20-30 employees, especially for a recent grad (even PhD level).That said, with startups it is always wise to assume your equity will be worth nothing. You can&rsquo;t compare the compensation on equal terms with big tech RSU packages. It&rsquo;s really about whether you will like the work and the startup environment better.