Ask HN: We are being acquired by FANG; What title/level/compensation to expect?

[ceothrowaway]

We are a small team built a product which is ramen profitable. We are midway to acqu-hire by FANG. I am the founder, CEO and built the initial working version and earned first 1000 users. There is one another engineer and one marketing person. I have 9+ years industry experience. So my question is what level & compensation I should be asking?

[bradknowles]

Frankly, I think you should expect zero beyond what they’re paying to buy the company.

This way you will be pleasantly surprised by anything they do offer. And you won’t be too unpleasantly surprised if they don’t offer anything at all, and you just get shown the door.

[ceothrowaway]

agree most of what you said.

Our lawyer said, it's good that you have a fair exit. Many companies he consulted didn't go anywhere. EXCEPT we were not really looking for an exit and quite enjoying the journey how ever little money we are making. I never worked for FANG or anywhere closer so totally clueless.

[Jugurtha]

Here[^1] is a video of Instagram's Kevin Systrom explaining the transition after Facebook acquired Instagram. The whole interview is good, and the segment would better be taken in context. All the best.

[^1]: https://youtu.be/Fgn2fhZBAVA?t=3365

[ceothrowaway]

Thanks thats helpful.

[segmondy]

Depends on the interview, they won't just give you one. If they decide to keep you, they will interview you and keep those that perform well. You can be a manager, if they are going to build out the software, you can be a VP for that product if you demonstrate competency. Best of luck.

[ceothrowaway]

Thanks. They specifically want to keep us to integrate our tech - but with huge modifications - almost like building from scratch. The deal is more of acqu-hire than acquire the product & users.

[natalyarostova]

If you would consider yourself a Senior level, which you probably should, given you built an acquired product, you can look up the paybands online. 250-500, to throw out a range.

[ceothrowaway]

Thanks. i was architect/manager before i started the company, so yeah i am looking for senior level position.

[Hackbyrd]

find people in the company who have the same level of experience as you and find out how much they are getting paid

[ceothrowaway]

1. It turned out to be quite difficult to approach people without revealing confidential information.

2. No. years of experience does not seems to correlates with level/compensation.