[luckystartup]

I was one of the first 5 employees at a YC unicorn. They haven't had an IPO yet, but it's getting closer. My original offer was for 0.5% of the company, but I didn't vest all of my shares before leaving. The shares are currently worth about $1.5M, and I'm hoping that they will be worth about $3-5M after the IPO and lockup period.

My salary was $120K and I relocated to SF from a different country, so I don't really feel like I took a pay cut. But the cost of living was extremely high, so the money didn't go as far as I thought it would. Especially because my spouse wasn't able to work on a dependent visa.

[jeffshek]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYt5yuiGk9E&feature=youtu.be...

Minor frustration: Someone in the <5 employee count deserves more equity. Yes that % is pretty common, but I think that's wrong.

[luckystartup]

Thanks, that was a great video!

I actually think the 0.5% was very fair, or even generous. I didn't have much startup experience before that, and it was my first "real" job. They were also taking a big gamble with the relocation and immigration lawyer fees.

The other thing is that more equity probably wouldn't have motivated me to stay longer, unless I was a cofounder. I really didn't enjoy working for the company. I felt like I didn't really have any impact on anything, the company didn't really need me, and I just didn't like the company culture very much. So I tried to estimate how many shares I would need to hit my early retirement target ($3M), and I left after I had vested enough shares.

I knew that the company would be very successful, and I left a huge amount of money on the table, but I have zero regrets. I've been much happier since I left, and it's been much more fun to work on my own startups.