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Comment on Ask HN: What is the standard first hire equity + salary in a new startup

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It's all over the map. Some people like equity. Some people (I'm in this camp) think early equity is too risky to compensate for the salary cuts demanded.

Say I take a $10,000 pay cut. Say your company is worth $1,000,000. That means I should get 1% right? No. I should get 1% this year, starting immediately. But wait. My 1% has only a very small chance over ever turning into money. That means I need, say, 5-10 percent to compensate for that. Don't know many startups willing to give someone 5-10% for a $10k salary cut? Neither do I. Maybe I'm too conservative.

Or, if you want the short answer, I'd say between 0.25% and 5% is normal to go along with a 20-30% salary cut. That's what I've seen, at least. YMMV.

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