Negotiating remuneration with a startup

[FMOB]

There is also an element of risk in joining a startup, depending upon the cash in the bank and the monthly burn rate, how long could the company last?

I joined a tech startup that had been running just over 2 years, based on how it was doing it could have been bust in 6 months so salary was a 40% uplift over equivalent permie salary, stock options based on the US approach not the UK HMRC approved scheme. 10% on top of salary in-lieu of benefits, etc.

Overall, best job I have had, it was a lot of hard work, it is not a 9-5 job for sure.

[AyBee]

tegwin said:

Thank you all for your thoughts on this, some really interesting points.

I purposefully kept it a big vague as you never know who is looking.


In essence the company has been an R&D company over the last 3 years. staff of around 10-15.

With my help (as a contractor) we have managed to get significant orders in for a product that does not yet exist. We knocked together a very quick prototype to win the order. My role would be to oversee the design of a manufacturable product as well as set up the production facility to scale production in a very short period of time. I guess we would end up with a team of around 30 additional people on this project.

It would be quite a leap to move from my current secure job into what will be a very fast pace job consuming more than the usual 9-5.

If I get it right the turnover should be pretty high. Hence why I was curious to gauge what else I should be asking for along with a salary. Mainly a bonus in return for losing more of my hair

Is it a bonus you want, or equity? Whilst equity is great if you're working for a company that's owned by shareholders who typically exit their investments in 3-5 years, it's not ideal to have it as a guessed figure on a page for 20 years...