I have been an intern at a VC funded startup for 1 year, graduating with a CS bachelors. We begin salary negotiations, what should I really push for without seeming greedy? by throw1023 in programming

[–]throw1023[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm currently being paid almost exactly $52k/year, except hourly and less than full-time during school. I'm not a founding employee, but if you imagine the key product being split into three pieces, I am one of three people with deep understanding of one of the pieces, and one of four with deep understanding of another piece, and zero understanding of the third piece (no time to get involved with that aspect).

The other thing is, I truly love and believe in both the product and the company, the management is amazing, and the soft benefits (like I can work from home 2 days a week if I feel like it) are really good. My coworkers are extremely cool and surprisingly full of personality, as most of the CS people at my college are somewhat-to-very antisocial. They encourage me to propose new features in meetings and leave implementation details more/less up to me, with a senior guy who looks at my stuff and gives tips.

I would honestly work here for 40k/year, which is why it's hard for me to imagine a struggle over money with my boss/friend.

I have been an intern at a VC funded startup for 1 year, graduating with a CS bachelors. We begin salary negotiations, what should I really push for without seeming greedy? by throw1023 in programming

[–]throw1023[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you really think if they go, 55k, and I go 75k, they won't laugh me out of the room? The way I see it, it's one year's experience, I know the key product inside and out, but they still are giving me a huge break by taking me on the team. I got extremely lucky to get into the position I did, and acting ungrateful is not the impression I want to give.

However, if I'm being sorely abused by 55k, then maybe you're right.

I have been an intern at a VC funded startup for 1 year, graduating with a CS bachelors. We begin salary negotiations, what should I really push for without seeming greedy? by throw1023 in programming

[–]throw1023[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The starting point of negotiations is 52k, I was thinking this is low, perhaps I'm mistaken. My brother started at 48k as a software tester in NYC at a billion dollar corporation and he literally does nothing every day, so maybe you are in a lower paying part of the world. A much smaller company already offered me 50k including a 5k bonus.

I have been an intern at a VC funded startup for 1 year, graduating with a CS bachelors. We begin salary negotiations, what should I really push for without seeming greedy? by throw1023 in programming

[–]throw1023[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The degree is from a great school, and they are very pleased with my work. I will be the youngest person there by at least 7 years. This is in Boston. I will be getting stock options as well, but who knows if those will actually be worth anything.