Ask HN: How should *employee* comp change post Series A?

[anonengineerer]

I'm an early hire at a startup (~10 people) which just closed a $6M Series A. We're all working for below market salary, and our founders have proposed a 10% salary increase (no equity change) as our post-A comp. How can I understand if that's reasonable? For reference, most of us are making about 70% of market after the raise.

[beck5]

Is the market salary based off other startups who have closed large rounds, or a FAANG company? It is common to be paid a bit less at a startup compared to a very large company. However if you feel you are being shortchanged it will likely result in friction with the company sooner or later.

Ask for more, worst case they come back with no, then you have to decide if you want to stay at that rate. Odds are your stock isn't going to be worth a lot, but I am a pessimist when it comes to equity.

[anonengineerer]

Good question, the market salary is based on an offer I had at the same level (L5) from a larger startup (100 people, series B).