[Houston]

Thanks for commenting, patio11. Appreciate it!

Without trying to sound like an arrogant blow-hard, I would say I'm one of the most vital employees in the company bar none. As the months pass by, I continue to take on more & more responsibilities & today my boss pretty much confided in me that other than him, I am THE creative force in the company.

When I go into the meeting, I don't want to come off cocky. I want to come off confident, which is why I'm trying to gather as much info as I can about this stuff.

I really think the benefits thing should be factored into the equation. It makes sense, right? I know benefits are necessary. But, how do you quantify that? Just do some research into what it'd cost to buy those benefits myself and factor it in?

[pbreit]

Sorry, I'm going to splash some cold water on this situation. Except for senior management and engineering, pretty much everyone is replaceable. As others have suggested, your currently pay will serve as baseline and it's hard to think anoff would be mre than 20 or 30% above that. But I have two tips for you: 1) ask for a review after 6 months at which point you might be able to earn a raise. 2) if this is a tech startup that you think has a lot of potential and stock options are a component of pay, it might be smart to trade a few k in salary for more than a few k in addiional stock.

[petervandijck]

Baseline isn't so much current pay, but what others in the same company are making (if that applies). That's what makes them think "we can hire someone to do this for X".