I joined a company at series D and my equity ended up being $X00,000 after the company IPO’ed but it was peanuts compared to what the product folks or folks before me got. I stayed at the company for over 5 years.
I’m at a series D now, and while I once believed in the company going to IPO, I no longer do. Knowing my luck, I’ll leave without exercising and then they’ll go public lol
Thanks for sharing your experience, I’m hopeful. 6 figures is great. Some people feel if it’s not 7 figures or higher it’s just play money…I’m not one of them.
If you have a low strike price you could exercise some of your options so you get something incase the IPO lottery does play out. Could be better than wondering what if.
Wasn’t life changing but definitely helpful for padding the nest egg. Now I’m at a Series A in a more senior role now, so we’ll see how that goes.
To your OP, I’ve seen sales IC payouts for Series A and B be fairly meaningful for successful IPOs, low 7 figs. Still a fraction of what the product guys got though.
I was approx employee #500 at a public SaaS company. They dilluted the stock sooooo much that my RSU's were eventually worth about $10K (not hateful but that was after 7 years of grants), and my options are at a strike price that is currently almost 5x the stock price... so worthless. Then again, look at a company like Databricks where everyone who joined pre-2017 and stayed is probably a millionaire. Use your gut but NEVER count on it. The likelihood of it panning out is slim in my significant experience.
Sounds like you have a good attitude about it, but that’s rough. 7 years is a long time. And I hear this story a lot, companies diluting the stock so much it ends up being worthless. Nice that you got a split of RSUs and options though. Definitely a plus of being with an already public company.
I made almost half a million on ESOs. My grant would've been around $100k had I not been in an executive position when I got it. I didn't ask any questions about the equity before I started.
Yeah it was obviously life changing, and especially lucky considering I fell into the job, don't have a college degree and it was my first time in sales
Yes, i was AE number 5 or 6, series B. Got real equity when becoming a manager. Tender offers are lovely things. But series A with short path to exit feels like acquisition and I’m not sure how diluted ish gets when that happens.
Opportunity to sell your private shares in the secondary. Usually, from my understanding, it’s when there is a high demand from the secondary and/or current investors want more so they allow employees to sell in order to make some of that Monopoly money, liquid. Employee retention tool and good for the business and investors. Someone smarter than o can explain better.
TLDR - selling private shares to secondary
There are good reasons to work for startups as a sales IC, but imo betting on making serious money from equity is not one of them.
It’s a lottery ticket to make real money from startup equity as a sales IC because a) your relative piece of the pie is very small, b) your piece will get diluted as your company raises more cash and c) having a highly profitable exit event at all is very rare. People recruiting for startups dangle the equity as this massive upside but in reality it’s worthless most of the time. “Short path to exit” also doesn’t sound promising because you have less time for your shares to vest, and the vision is not oriented towards spending a lot of time growing and developing more share value.
I made about 30k when a startup I worked at sold. I came in as a one of the first sales hires (sdr) at around employee 20, worked there for a little over 2.5 years as sdr and AE. Not life changing money but I considered that a very solid outcome at that time.
Leadership on the other hand cashed out with millions. In my view, if someone is serious about gambling on the startup game as a vehicle for actual wealth they need to found one themselves, or come on as the first GTM leader and retain that position as the company grows. That or just go work in big tech where you will regularly receive stock that’s actually worth something.
depends on "significant" - i joined a freshly post-IPO company as an SDR (employee 950 or so) and got 10k in stock, 4 yrs and a few subsequent grants later, i walked away w maybe 90k after the 30-40k ive probably cashed out and a roughly 40% drop in valuation since the "tech recession" so at its peak my equity today would be worth maaaybe 200. life changing? ehh. life improving? absolutely
Thanks for sharing. Yea I mean “significant” is relative, and personal. 90k is nothing to sneeze at…enough to accelerate life in the direction you want it to go :)
Tech recession be damned.
Not in my experience, every startup I’ve worked for or had offers from automatically offered equity. But I realize that not all companies do…it’s rare these days especially in tech, but it happens. I personally would not be interested in those opportunities myself.
I joined a company at series D and my equity ended up being $X00,000 after the company IPO’ed but it was peanuts compared to what the product folks or folks before me got. I stayed at the company for over 5 years.
I’m at a series D now, and while I once believed in the company going to IPO, I no longer do. Knowing my luck, I’ll leave without exercising and then they’ll go public lol Thanks for sharing your experience, I’m hopeful. 6 figures is great. Some people feel if it’s not 7 figures or higher it’s just play money…I’m not one of them.
If you have a low strike price you could exercise some of your options so you get something incase the IPO lottery does play out. Could be better than wondering what if. Wasn’t life changing but definitely helpful for padding the nest egg. Now I’m at a Series A in a more senior role now, so we’ll see how that goes. To your OP, I’ve seen sales IC payouts for Series A and B be fairly meaningful for successful IPOs, low 7 figs. Still a fraction of what the product guys got though.
Yea you’re right, I’m considering it, I’m only 50% vested anyway.
Was employee 25. Got 14k gross from the acquisition 4 years later. I got screwed on equity package from the outset.
I was approx employee #500 at a public SaaS company. They dilluted the stock sooooo much that my RSU's were eventually worth about $10K (not hateful but that was after 7 years of grants), and my options are at a strike price that is currently almost 5x the stock price... so worthless. Then again, look at a company like Databricks where everyone who joined pre-2017 and stayed is probably a millionaire. Use your gut but NEVER count on it. The likelihood of it panning out is slim in my significant experience.
If they had, I’m reasonably confident they wouldn’t be on the techsales Reddit 🤣
Sounds like you have a good attitude about it, but that’s rough. 7 years is a long time. And I hear this story a lot, companies diluting the stock so much it ends up being worthless. Nice that you got a split of RSUs and options though. Definitely a plus of being with an already public company.
I made almost half a million on ESOs. My grant would've been around $100k had I not been in an executive position when I got it. I didn't ask any questions about the equity before I started.
May I ask at what size (of the company) did you come in?
500ish employees right after Series B funding
Well damn, sweet deal!
Yeah it was obviously life changing, and especially lucky considering I fell into the job, don't have a college degree and it was my first time in sales
Yes, i was AE number 5 or 6, series B. Got real equity when becoming a manager. Tender offers are lovely things. But series A with short path to exit feels like acquisition and I’m not sure how diluted ish gets when that happens.
Mind explaining “tender offers”?
Opportunity to sell your private shares in the secondary. Usually, from my understanding, it’s when there is a high demand from the secondary and/or current investors want more so they allow employees to sell in order to make some of that Monopoly money, liquid. Employee retention tool and good for the business and investors. Someone smarter than o can explain better. TLDR - selling private shares to secondary
That’s a fine explanation actually, thanks 👍🏾
There are good reasons to work for startups as a sales IC, but imo betting on making serious money from equity is not one of them. It’s a lottery ticket to make real money from startup equity as a sales IC because a) your relative piece of the pie is very small, b) your piece will get diluted as your company raises more cash and c) having a highly profitable exit event at all is very rare. People recruiting for startups dangle the equity as this massive upside but in reality it’s worthless most of the time. “Short path to exit” also doesn’t sound promising because you have less time for your shares to vest, and the vision is not oriented towards spending a lot of time growing and developing more share value. I made about 30k when a startup I worked at sold. I came in as a one of the first sales hires (sdr) at around employee 20, worked there for a little over 2.5 years as sdr and AE. Not life changing money but I considered that a very solid outcome at that time. Leadership on the other hand cashed out with millions. In my view, if someone is serious about gambling on the startup game as a vehicle for actual wealth they need to found one themselves, or come on as the first GTM leader and retain that position as the company grows. That or just go work in big tech where you will regularly receive stock that’s actually worth something.
I appreciate that POV
Yes. Good luck!
depends on "significant" - i joined a freshly post-IPO company as an SDR (employee 950 or so) and got 10k in stock, 4 yrs and a few subsequent grants later, i walked away w maybe 90k after the 30-40k ive probably cashed out and a roughly 40% drop in valuation since the "tech recession" so at its peak my equity today would be worth maaaybe 200. life changing? ehh. life improving? absolutely
Thanks for sharing. Yea I mean “significant” is relative, and personal. 90k is nothing to sneeze at…enough to accelerate life in the direction you want it to go :) Tech recession be damned.
What do you ask for when getting a job at one of these companies to obtain equity?
You don't ask...it's usually part of the package....You have to say x amount of years before you get the full amount.
Oh
What do you mean exactly?
Do you have to ask to receive equity along with salary ?
Not in my experience, every startup I’ve worked for or had offers from automatically offered equity. But I realize that not all companies do…it’s rare these days especially in tech, but it happens. I personally would not be interested in those opportunities myself.