Hello all, I am very new to the startup world, I joined this sub to learn more.
Currently I am doing my internship and I am getting paid well (a little more than average fresher pay). The company is ready to offer me a good amount too once I join them which is again more than average starting salary for a fresher. The startup is building an online platform which will heavily use data and ML along with some people doing the web development work. Following are some key pointers:
-
Early stage startup, they are trying to build a team right now and I am the only data scientist in the company.
-
CEO and CTO don’t know anything about AI/Datascience/ML, they just know what they want from me for the platform, and sometimes they have crazy ideas that they think AI will automatically do it for them.
-
There are 1-2 other people working in the software development team
-
I don’t know anything about how they get the funds. Based on all the conversations till now (It has been 2 months since I joined) I believe Govt/public bodies are major investors because of the kind of sector we work in. There could be private investors too.
Based on everything I mentioned above, Should I even join this company if yes then should I be asking equity, if yes then how do I decide the value?
It depends if DATA is core for their business
You can always ask, but sounds like they are paying you a fair salary, so it may or may not go your way
Ask if they’re willing. If it’s truly fair market salary ask to see if they’re willing to offer options. Typically an early stage startup will offer different salary packages if they’re willing. Most founders are generally NOT put off that someone wants be compensated by equity and take it as a sign of buy-in to the company and product - especially if you position it that way.
E.g.
100% market salary + 0 shares 90% market salary + 5000 shares 80% market salary + 10000 shares
—-
Make sure you know how many shares there are in total and the vesting period (typically four years).
If you’re young and have the capacity it’s worth the adventure and pipe dreams imo. The beginning of your contract is a pretty good time to get some equity, but it won’t be your last. If you go above and beyond in a year it’s not hard to ask for more equity.
But it also depends on the types of founders you have, your role in the team, and what “early stage” means and how backed they are.
I wouldn’t want to work for anyone who isn’t open to have conversations like this though personally.
Doesn’t hurt to ask. The worst they could do is say no. You never know until you ask!
The CTO not knowing anything about AI/Datascience/ML makes me question why you’d even want equity in this company…
No, you should not ask for equity. If they didn’t offer, they don’t want to give you any.
yes. market rate salary doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get equity in some form
You may not get extra pay, but please try to gauge the impact your skills are going to make to this business and use that to ask for equity