[SAS721]

At the end of the day its up to the employees to realize what they are getting into.

Typically for a tech employee when it comes to compensation the equation is salary + bonus + RSU/options. Its important when considering a position to think through each piece.

In regards to the bonus how does it get determined what the amount is, is it known upfront, does it typically get paid out at 100%, over 100%? What is the percentage amount for the last x years?

For the RSUs/Options if its an established company how stable is it, if its a startup then how likely is the success of the company (in my case if its a startup then I personally don't depend on this part of compensation).

[cloudjacker]

Only publicly traded tech companies give that.

For the others (especially growth startups that aspire to exit) it is just salary + pitiful options.

There isn't anywhere near parity to make up for the lack of comparable bonus or liquidity of RSUs.

[SAS721]

Well from my personal experience at startups quite a few of them do give bonuses. Its a way for them to have control over whether you get part of your compensation. Often based on performance (for the reputable ones) but sometimes just based on whether they feel like paying it!

[cloudjacker]

The bonus isn't anywhere near what the larger tech companies do. I get it, they are cash strapped, my perspective is that they should go back to the VCs and double the size of their investment rounds to accommodate bonuses that are nearer to upwards of 50%-100% of the base salary. And the boards (which also include the VCs) shouldn't be balking at the idea of having employee equity pools greater than 5%.

They are acting like they are doing you a favor, but the current reality is based on greed (from the board) and it will simply take a collective of engineers to simultaneously realize they are undervalued, just like some financial professionals realized in the 80s.