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by BatFastard 3563 days ago
For AI engineers is 10M per engineer. http://www.recode.net/2016/9/17/12943214/sebastian-thrun-sel...
1 comments

Are you guys distinguishing between what the buyer pays and what the engineer gets?

To put it another way: if you personally promised the engineer $5 million (vesting over 3 years) they may switch.

This means the buyer must see some value in the company over and above the engineers. (IP? Customers?)

The engineers are not getting that obviously, it depends on how much equity they have and the difference between the amount of VC money pumped into a company and the final sale price of the company. VCs often get 2x preferred stock (at the minimum - it entitles them to 2x what they invested). This is before anyone else is allowed to see a dime. Every term sheet is different of course.
The value of the team is also larger than the individual engineers on it. Plus, a package bid is less risky if you're looking to get the entire package.

Oh, and poaching has another risk - that you get only the worst employees.