Let's talk in-house salaries Forum

[VentureMBA]

There are EAs at big tech companies that make 100k+ and get equity.

If you go to law school, grind in big law and exit to make $150k you did something really wrong.

Between this post and personally knowing multiple people at KE who got $400k+ signing bonuses, I'm starting to think you just make stuff up...

For sure

https://www.quora.com/How-much-do-execu ... e-per-year

Ah, an eight-year old Quora post as a source, and one that doesn't mention equity anywhere. Great support! Can you find me a single job listing for an EA -- anywhere -- that mentions an equity grant and a salary over $100k? While you do that I'll find a few hundred in-house counsel jobs that pay $150k.

You think that the source being 8 years old *helps* your argument? Take a guess which say the pay has been trending.

This source is also 7 years old: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bu ... /17244533/

“And the money? Top recruiters say the base salary for EAs in the Valley now starts around $60,000 and goes up fast from there. Junior EAs, supporting managers or engineers, might make around $110,000, while those supporting the C-suite rake in as much as $200,000, plus bonuses and equity. That's several tens of thousands of dollars more per year than the same job title earned several years ago, according to the recruiters.”

[thisismytlsuername]

There are EAs at big tech companies that make 100k+ and get equity.

If you go to law school, grind in big law and exit to make $150k you did something really wrong.

Between this post and personally knowing multiple people at KE who got $400k+ signing bonuses, I'm starting to think you just make stuff up...

For sure

https://www.quora.com/How-much-do-execu ... e-per-year

Ah, an eight-year old Quora post as a source, and one that doesn't mention equity anywhere. Great support! Can you find me a single job listing for an EA -- anywhere -- that mentions an equity grant and a salary over $100k? While you do that I'll find a few hundred in-house counsel jobs that pay $150k.

You think that the source being 8 years old *helps* your argument? Take a guess which say the pay has been trending.

This source is also 7 years old: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bu ... /17244533/

“And the money? Top recruiters say the base salary for EAs in the Valley now starts around $60,000 and goes up fast from there. Junior EAs, supporting managers or engineers, might make around $110,000, while those supporting the C-suite rake in as much as $200,000, plus bonuses and equity. That's several tens of thousands of dollars more per year than the same job title earned several years ago, according to the recruiters.”

Cool, thanks for ignoring my question. Can you find me a listing? Thx.

[VentureMBA]

There are EAs at big tech companies that make 100k+ and get equity.

If you go to law school, grind in big law and exit to make $150k you did something really wrong.

Between this post and personally knowing multiple people at KE who got $400k+ signing bonuses, I'm starting to think you just make stuff up...

For sure

https://www.quora.com/How-much-do-execu ... e-per-year

Ah, an eight-year old Quora post as a source, and one that doesn't mention equity anywhere. Great support! Can you find me a single job listing for an EA -- anywhere -- that mentions an equity grant and a salary over $100k? While you do that I'll find a few hundred in-house counsel jobs that pay $150k.

You think that the source being 8 years old *helps* your argument? Take a guess which say the pay has been trending.

This source is also 7 years old: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bu ... /17244533/

“And the money? Top recruiters say the base salary for EAs in the Valley now starts around $60,000 and goes up fast from there. Junior EAs, supporting managers or engineers, might make around $110,000, while those supporting the C-suite rake in as much as $200,000, plus bonuses and equity. That's several tens of thousands of dollars more per year than the same job title earned several years ago, according to the recruiters.”

Cool, thanks for ignoring my question. Can you find me a listing? Thx.

Are you now taking the position that USA Today is not a credible source?

Here are Glassdoor's average EA salaries for a few Bay Are based companies, all of which include equity comp:

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Facebo ... _IM759.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Uber-E ... _IM759.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Equini ... _IM759.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Salesf ... _IM759.htm

[thisismytlsuername]

There are EAs at big tech companies that make 100k+ and get equity.

If you go to law school, grind in big law and exit to make $150k you did something really wrong.

Between this post and personally knowing multiple people at KE who got $400k+ signing bonuses, I'm starting to think you just make stuff up...

For sure

https://www.quora.com/How-much-do-execu ... e-per-year

Ah, an eight-year old Quora post as a source, and one that doesn't mention equity anywhere. Great support! Can you find me a single job listing for an EA -- anywhere -- that mentions an equity grant and a salary over $100k? While you do that I'll find a few hundred in-house counsel jobs that pay $150k.

You think that the source being 8 years old *helps* your argument? Take a guess which say the pay has been trending.

This source is also 7 years old: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bu ... /17244533/

“And the money? Top recruiters say the base salary for EAs in the Valley now starts around $60,000 and goes up fast from there. Junior EAs, supporting managers or engineers, might make around $110,000, while those supporting the C-suite rake in as much as $200,000, plus bonuses and equity. That's several tens of thousands of dollars more per year than the same job title earned several years ago, according to the recruiters.”

Cool, thanks for ignoring my question. Can you find me a listing? Thx.

Are you now taking the position that USA Today is not a credible source?

Here are Glassdoor's average EA salaries for a few Bay Are based companies, all of which include equity comp:

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Facebo ... _IM759.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Uber-E ... _IM759.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Equini ... _IM759.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Salesf ... _IM759.htm

Oh, by "get equity" you meant "get a yearly $5k grant of RSUs." Got it.

[VentureMBA]

Between this post and personally knowing multiple people at KE who got $400k+ signing bonuses, I'm starting to think you just make stuff up...

For sure

https://www.quora.com/How-much-do-execu ... e-per-year

Ah, an eight-year old Quora post as a source, and one that doesn't mention equity anywhere. Great support! Can you find me a single job listing for an EA -- anywhere -- that mentions an equity grant and a salary over $100k? While you do that I'll find a few hundred in-house counsel jobs that pay $150k.

You think that the source being 8 years old *helps* your argument? Take a guess which say the pay has been trending.

This source is also 7 years old: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bu ... /17244533/

“And the money? Top recruiters say the base salary for EAs in the Valley now starts around $60,000 and goes up fast from there. Junior EAs, supporting managers or engineers, might make around $110,000, while those supporting the C-suite rake in as much as $200,000, plus bonuses and equity. That's several tens of thousands of dollars more per year than the same job title earned several years ago, according to the recruiters.”

Cool, thanks for ignoring my question. Can you find me a listing? Thx.

Are you now taking the position that USA Today is not a credible source?

Here are Glassdoor's average EA salaries for a few Bay Are based companies, all of which include equity comp:

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Facebo ... _IM759.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Uber-E ... _IM759.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Equini ... _IM759.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Salesf ... _IM759.htm

Oh, by "get equity" you meant "get a yearly $5k grant of RSUs." Got it.

Facebook's is closer to $10k (10% of salary comp), but if moving the goal posts on your request for proof makes you feel better about making a whopping 40k more than people with Associate's degrees scheduling lunches for CEOs for a living, by all means.

[thisismytlsuername]

For sure

https://www.quora.com/How-much-do-execu ... e-per-year

Ah, an eight-year old Quora post as a source, and one that doesn't mention equity anywhere. Great support! Can you find me a single job listing for an EA -- anywhere -- that mentions an equity grant and a salary over $100k? While you do that I'll find a few hundred in-house counsel jobs that pay $150k.

You think that the source being 8 years old *helps* your argument? Take a guess which say the pay has been trending.

This source is also 7 years old: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bu ... /17244533/

“And the money? Top recruiters say the base salary for EAs in the Valley now starts around $60,000 and goes up fast from there. Junior EAs, supporting managers or engineers, might make around $110,000, while those supporting the C-suite rake in as much as $200,000, plus bonuses and equity. That's several tens of thousands of dollars more per year than the same job title earned several years ago, according to the recruiters.”

Cool, thanks for ignoring my question. Can you find me a listing? Thx.

Are you now taking the position that USA Today is not a credible source?

Here are Glassdoor's average EA salaries for a few Bay Are based companies, all of which include equity comp:

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Facebo ... _IM759.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Uber-E ... _IM759.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Equini ... _IM759.htm

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Salesf ... _IM759.htm

Oh, by "get equity" you meant "get a yearly $5k grant of RSUs." Got it.

Facebook's is closer to $10k (10% of salary comp), but if moving the goal posts on your request for proof makes you feel better about making a whopping 40k more than people with Associate's degrees scheduling lunches for CEOs for a living, by all means.

If you want to talk about moving goalposts, I asked for a *job listing* that mentions an equity grant and a salary over $100k. You have provided exactly zero of those. And, while it's not really relevant to my initial request that you still haven't fulfilled, one of the links you did provide talked extensively about how those jobs are not full of people with Associate's degrees.

You first said that these jobs "make 100k+ and get equity." I think the standard understanding of the phrase "get equity" implies some significant amount of discounted equity that could have a real upside, not a few thousand dollars worth of RSUs per year. I'd rather have cash comp than that.

(And I'm still in biglaw after 10 years, so I feel just fine about how much money I make, but go off.)

[TigerIsBack]

For anyone that thinks making $150k base in-house is terrible, well guess what? No one's forcing you to go in-house, but always good to know there's someone on the internet with an MBA ready to tell others how dumb they are.

Now, can we get back to the comp discussion and stick to providing other data points?

[Anonymous User]

5 years in Biglaw, specialty practice

Base: 180k
Bonus: 15%
RSU: ~13k per year
PTO: 9 days

Thoughts?

$220k all in seems pretty solid. Any idea the hours breakdown (i.e., is this in-house M&A with evenings and weekends or more governance and 9-6 hours)?

Assuming it's not much work on nights and weekends, comp seems pretty solid, but not so great that you couldn't try to negotiate for more. PTO seems pretty low, but do you increase to 15-20 days of PTO after your first couple years or remain at 9 for the foreseeable future?

PTO increases after the first year, and they said there’s not much work on nights and weekends. Where would you negotiate for more? RSU? Bonus? Thanks!

For me (and I would guess with most people) I think the preference would be to have the highest base salary you can possibly get. But if you're pretty comfortable living on $180k, then you could say you were hoping to be in the low $200s for base but are open to increasing the all-in comp via other alternatives (RSUs, higher bonus, signing bonus, etc.) and see what they come back with. Or just try to push for the higher base and let them decide if they want to come back with alternatives.

One caveat is if you are super comfortable living on $180k and think this is a company that will experience massive growth then I guess maybe push for RSUs???

Hey,
Just wanted to say thanks for the tip. Renegotiated and got $200k base, everything else is the same. (So about $240-250k now). Given the hour expectations, I think I can live with this

[TigerIsBack]

5 years in Biglaw, specialty practice

Base: 180k
Bonus: 15%
RSU: ~13k per year
PTO: 9 days

Thoughts?

$220k all in seems pretty solid. Any idea the hours breakdown (i.e., is this in-house M&A with evenings and weekends or more governance and 9-6 hours)?

Assuming it's not much work on nights and weekends, comp seems pretty solid, but not so great that you couldn't try to negotiate for more. PTO seems pretty low, but do you increase to 15-20 days of PTO after your first couple years or remain at 9 for the foreseeable future?

PTO increases after the first year, and they said there’s not much work on nights and weekends. Where would you negotiate for more? RSU? Bonus? Thanks!

For me (and I would guess with most people) I think the preference would be to have the highest base salary you can possibly get. But if you're pretty comfortable living on $180k, then you could say you were hoping to be in the low $200s for base but are open to increasing the all-in comp via other alternatives (RSUs, higher bonus, signing bonus, etc.) and see what they come back with. Or just try to push for the higher base and let them decide if they want to come back with alternatives.

One caveat is if you are super comfortable living on $180k and think this is a company that will experience massive growth then I guess maybe push for RSUs???

Hey,
Just wanted to say thanks for the tip. Renegotiated and got $200k base, everything else is the same. (So about $240-250k now). Given the hour expectations, I think I can live with this

Wow, that's awesome!

[lolwutpar]

5 years in Biglaw, specialty practice

Base: 180k
Bonus: 15%
RSU: ~13k per year
PTO: 9 days

Thoughts?

$220k all in seems pretty solid. Any idea the hours breakdown (i.e., is this in-house M&A with evenings and weekends or more governance and 9-6 hours)?

Assuming it's not much work on nights and weekends, comp seems pretty solid, but not so great that you couldn't try to negotiate for more. PTO seems pretty low, but do you increase to 15-20 days of PTO after your first couple years or remain at 9 for the foreseeable future?

PTO increases after the first year, and they said there’s not much work on nights and weekends. Where would you negotiate for more? RSU? Bonus? Thanks!

For me (and I would guess with most people) I think the preference would be to have the highest base salary you can possibly get. But if you're pretty comfortable living on $180k, then you could say you were hoping to be in the low $200s for base but are open to increasing the all-in comp via other alternatives (RSUs, higher bonus, signing bonus, etc.) and see what they come back with. Or just try to push for the higher base and let them decide if they want to come back with alternatives.

One caveat is if you are super comfortable living on $180k and think this is a company that will experience massive growth then I guess maybe push for RSUs???

Hey,
Just wanted to say thanks for the tip. Renegotiated and got $200k base, everything else is the same. (So about $240-250k now). Given the hour expectations, I think I can live with this

Congrats. Always nice to get an extra $20k after a quick conversation/email! That's a good outcome.

[ithrowds]

Is it pretty common not to take a pay cut when going in house to an investment bank? 3rd year with an offer that will pay me actually slightly more than biglaw market (including bonus)

[UnfrozenCaveman]

Is it pretty common not to take a pay cut when going in house to an investment bank? 3rd year with an offer that will pay me actually slightly more than biglaw market (including bonus)

I think at that level is pretty common, but common thought is that hours won't be better.

[Anonymous User]

Spoke with HR/hiring team last week and am mulling over an in-house offer for a late stage private SaaS company last valued in the mid-digit bn. Position is in the Bay, and am currently a 4th year at one of the Bay Area TTG practices.

The initial offer was (i) 175K base, (ii) ~ 20K bonus, and (iii) equity, which, based on the valuation from their last financing (more than a year ago), would be worth ~ 20K per year (with typical cliff and 4 year vest). Company seems to be growing and hiring aggressively, although the niche and their products are definitely not one of those sure things. No clear liquidity events in the horizon, so the stock is a bit illiquid barring some kind of buyback or tender offer. Taking a conservative estimate that the company has not grown at all since the last valuation, I figure the total comp is ~ 215K.

Role seems to have solid benefits (especially compared to firm - very low cost health insurance, partial 401K match, tech reimbursements, etc.) and WLB (supposedly more or less 9-6, and little to no weekend work).

Any thoughts on (i) how the offer compares to market and if there's anything I should push for, and (ii) how to think about private company equity, especially where that component will likely be illiquid for some time and very dependent on valuation (which isn't clear)?

[attorney589753]

Spoke with HR/hiring team last week and am mulling over an in-house offer for a late stage private SaaS company last valued in the mid-digit bn. Position is in the Bay, and am currently a 4th year at one of the Bay Area TTG practices.

The initial offer was (i) 175K base, (ii) ~ 20K bonus, and (iii) equity, which, based on the valuation from their last financing (more than a year ago), would be worth ~ 20K per year (with typical cliff and 4 year vest). Company seems to be growing and hiring aggressively, although the niche and their products are definitely not one of those sure things. No clear liquidity events in the horizon, so the stock is a bit illiquid barring some kind of buyback or tender offer. Taking a conservative estimate that the company has not grown at all since the last valuation, I figure the total comp is ~ 215K.

Role seems to have solid benefits (especially compared to firm - very low cost health insurance, partial 401K match, tech reimbursements, etc.) and WLB (supposedly more or less 9-6, and little to no weekend work).

Any thoughts on (i) how the offer compares to market and if there's anything I should push for, and (ii) how to think about private company equity, especially where that component will likely be illiquid for some time and very dependent on valuation (which isn't clear)?

Congrats on the offer. Sounds like a great gig in terms of benefits. My best guess (and really hard to know on these things) is the offer is within market but perhaps on the low side. The cash part may be about average, but the equity seems pretty light to me; if a "best case" scenario outcome is for the company to 2-5x in value, your equity still wouldn't be that great even in best case. There is no easy way to think about private company equity other than it's a total gamble in terms of value and time; a lot of companies get sold and employees get nothing, but of course there are some success stories too. Have you also asked about possible promotions, advancement, and additional equity grants ("refresh" or promotion grants) in connection with those?

[jhett]

GC of early stage biotech start-up
Location: Boston
Salary: 205k
Bonus: none
Equity: ~1% fully diluted shares
PTO: unlimited
# years legal experience: 11

[Anonymous User]

Here's what I was offered, not sure I love it

F500 tech company, 5th year corporate

Base: $160k
RSUs: $85k/3 years
Bonus: 15% target

I was told very firmly that there is no room on the base. Not sure if that is true or HR puffery, but I do know a lot of large companies have very specific compensation bands for specific roles and experience. I think I will ask for more RSUs, but it was also implied there is no room there.

I have some friends that were given "take it or leave it" offers when they went in house, so I'm not terribly surprised by the firmness of HR. But I was hoping for something like $180-190k and at least $100k RSUs.

[Elston Gunn]

Spoke with HR/hiring team last week and am mulling over an in-house offer for a late stage private SaaS company last valued in the mid-digit bn. Position is in the Bay, and am currently a 4th year at one of the Bay Area TTG practices.

The initial offer was (i) 175K base, (ii) ~ 20K bonus, and (iii) equity, which, based on the valuation from their last financing (more than a year ago), would be worth ~ 20K per year (with typical cliff and 4 year vest). Company seems to be growing and hiring aggressively, although the niche and their products are definitely not one of those sure things. No clear liquidity events in the horizon, so the stock is a bit illiquid barring some kind of buyback or tender offer. Taking a conservative estimate that the company has not grown at all since the last valuation, I figure the total comp is ~ 215K.

Role seems to have solid benefits (especially compared to firm - very low cost health insurance, partial 401K match, tech reimbursements, etc.) and WLB (supposedly more or less 9-6, and little to no weekend work).

Any thoughts on (i) how the offer compares to market and if there's anything I should push for, and (ii) how to think about private company equity, especially where that component will likely be illiquid for some time and very dependent on valuation (which isn't clear)?

Congrats on the offer. Sounds like a great gig in terms of benefits. My best guess (and really hard to know on these things) is the offer is within market but perhaps on the low side. The cash part may be about average, but the equity seems pretty light to me; if a "best case" scenario outcome is for the company to 2-5x in value, your equity still wouldn't be that great even in best case. There is no easy way to think about private company equity other than it's a total gamble in terms of value and time; a lot of companies get sold and employees get nothing, but of course there are some success stories too. Have you also asked about possible promotions, advancement, and additional equity grants ("refresh" or promotion grants) in connection with those?

Agree with this. This seems right about market for a 4th year, though the equity of a private company is really hard to evaluate. I might ask for more equity to see if I could get more upside.

[Anonymous User]

Here's what I was offered, not sure I love it

F500 tech company, 5th year corporate

Base: $160k
RSUs: $85k/3 years
Bonus: 15% target

I was told very firmly that there is no room on the base. Not sure if that is true or HR puffery, but I do know a lot of large companies have very specific compensation bands for specific roles and experience. I think I will ask for more RSUs, but it was also implied there is no room there.

I have some friends that were given "take it or leave it" offers when they went in house, so I'm not terribly surprised by the firmness of HR. But I was hoping for something like $180-190k and at least $100k RSUs.

Location? i.e. are you in a HCOL area/major market?

[Anonymous User]

Here's what I was offered, not sure I love it

F500 tech company, 5th year corporate

Base: $160k
RSUs: $85k/3 years
Bonus: 15% target

I was told very firmly that there is no room on the base. Not sure if that is true or HR puffery, but I do know a lot of large companies have very specific compensation bands for specific roles and experience. I think I will ask for more RSUs, but it was also implied there is no room there.

I have some friends that were given "take it or leave it" offers when they went in house, so I'm not terribly surprised by the firmness of HR. But I was hoping for something like $180-190k and at least $100k RSUs.

Location? i.e. are you in a HCOL area/major market?

SoCal

[Anonymous User]

Spoke with HR/hiring team last week and am mulling over an in-house offer for a late stage private SaaS company last valued in the mid-digit bn. Position is in the Bay, and am currently a 4th year at one of the Bay Area TTG practices.

The initial offer was (i) 175K base, (ii) ~ 20K bonus, and (iii) equity, which, based on the valuation from their last financing (more than a year ago), would be worth ~ 20K per year (with typical cliff and 4 year vest). Company seems to be growing and hiring aggressively, although the niche and their products are definitely not one of those sure things. No clear liquidity events in the horizon, so the stock is a bit illiquid barring some kind of buyback or tender offer. Taking a conservative estimate that the company has not grown at all since the last valuation, I figure the total comp is ~ 215K.

Role seems to have solid benefits (especially compared to firm - very low cost health insurance, partial 401K match, tech reimbursements, etc.) and WLB (supposedly more or less 9-6, and little to no weekend work).

Any thoughts on (i) how the offer compares to market and if there's anything I should push for, and (ii) how to think about private company equity, especially where that component will likely be illiquid for some time and very dependent on valuation (which isn't clear)?

Congrats on the offer. Sounds like a great gig in terms of benefits. My best guess (and really hard to know on these things) is the offer is within market but perhaps on the low side. The cash part may be about average, but the equity seems pretty light to me; if a "best case" scenario outcome is for the company to 2-5x in value, your equity still wouldn't be that great even in best case. There is no easy way to think about private company equity other than it's a total gamble in terms of value and time; a lot of companies get sold and employees get nothing, but of course there are some success stories too. Have you also asked about possible promotions, advancement, and additional equity grants ("refresh" or promotion grants) in connection with those?

Agree with this. This seems right about market for a 4th year, though the equity of a private company is really hard to evaluate. I might ask for more equity to see if I could get more upside.

OP for the above, and thanks both. My sense in talking with people was that it seems in range, although you do hear of 4th years getting 250-300K all-in packages (albeit typically at larger public companies). I don't think they have any set view on promotions or equity refreshes.

I'm going to see what they can do, but I figure, worst case scenario they tell me to pound sand, and ~ 200K cash comp with some TBD equity upside isn't the end of the world, even in the Bay. If growth goes way south in Y2 or Y3, it'll be easier to jump to another in-house role after you've gotten experience at one already.

[Anonymous User]

Here's what I was offered, not sure I love it

F500 tech company, 5th year corporate

Base: $160k
RSUs: $85k/3 years
Bonus: 15% target

I was told very firmly that there is no room on the base. Not sure if that is true or HR puffery, but I do know a lot of large companies have very specific compensation bands for specific roles and experience. I think I will ask for more RSUs, but it was also implied there is no room there.

I have some friends that were given "take it or leave it" offers when they went in house, so I'm not terribly surprised by the firmness of HR. But I was hoping for something like $180-190k and at least $100k RSUs.

Location? i.e. are you in a HCOL area/major market?

SoCal

Same anon - got base pushed up to $165k and RSUs to $95k - thoughts?

[clarion]

GC of early stage biotech start-up
Location: Boston
Salary: 205k
Bonus: none
Equity: ~1% fully diluted shares
PTO: unlimited
# years legal experience: 11

Just wanted to say thanks for sharing. It’s so rare to get data points from people that far into their careers, so for those of us phasing past the “mid year” range it’s nice to see. Cheers!

[Anonymous User]

c/o 2016
F500 company in SoCal
Corporate/transaction based work

$142k base
$90k RSUs/3 years
15% bonus
$45k signing bonus
Insurance, etc. is $0
401k match to $9500

I am probably not accepting. They have indicated they will not budge and I find that base almost insultingly low for my experience/credentials and the fact that it's still deal work.

[Anonymous User]

C/o 2017 transactional tax lawyer

Tax counsel role at a public company (can’t go into any further details)

Base: 220k
Signing: 10k
Bonus: 25% split between cash and equity
Benefits: looked reasonable

Did not accept ‘cause the hours do not look better (deal-driven role) and I’ll be taking a hit on the comp considering covid bonus and the potential year end bonus (on track). Not sure what the yearly appreciation would be either so with no signing bonus amount next year, comp may be lower.

[Anonymous User]

Spoke with HR/hiring team last week and am mulling over an in-house offer for a late stage private SaaS company last valued in the mid-digit bn. Position is in the Bay, and am currently a 4th year at one of the Bay Area TTG practices.

The initial offer was (i) 175K base, (ii) ~ 20K bonus, and (iii) equity, which, based on the valuation from their last financing (more than a year ago), would be worth ~ 20K per year (with typical cliff and 4 year vest). Company seems to be growing and hiring aggressively, although the niche and their products are definitely not one of those sure things. No clear liquidity events in the horizon, so the stock is a bit illiquid barring some kind of buyback or tender offer. Taking a conservative estimate that the company has not grown at all since the last valuation, I figure the total comp is ~ 215K.

Role seems to have solid benefits (especially compared to firm - very low cost health insurance, partial 401K match, tech reimbursements, etc.) and WLB (supposedly more or less 9-6, and little to no weekend work).

Any thoughts on (i) how the offer compares to market and if there's anything I should push for, and (ii) how to think about private company equity, especially where that component will likely be illiquid for some time and very dependent on valuation (which isn't clear)?

Congrats on the offer. Sounds like a great gig in terms of benefits. My best guess (and really hard to know on these things) is the offer is within market but perhaps on the low side. The cash part may be about average, but the equity seems pretty light to me; if a "best case" scenario outcome is for the company to 2-5x in value, your equity still wouldn't be that great even in best case. There is no easy way to think about private company equity other than it's a total gamble in terms of value and time; a lot of companies get sold and employees get nothing, but of course there are some success stories too. Have you also asked about possible promotions, advancement, and additional equity grants ("refresh" or promotion grants) in connection with those?

Agree with this. This seems right about market for a 4th year, though the equity of a private company is really hard to evaluate. I might ask for more equity to see if I could get more upside.

OP for the above, and thanks both. My sense in talking with people was that it seems in range, although you do hear of 4th years getting 250-300K all-in packages (albeit typically at larger public companies). I don't think they have any set view on promotions or equity refreshes.

I'm going to see what they can do, but I figure, worst case scenario they tell me to pound sand, and ~ 200K cash comp with some TBD equity upside isn't the end of the world, even in the Bay. If growth goes way south in Y2 or Y3, it'll be easier to jump to another in-house role after you've gotten experience at one already.

Following up on this, I reached out and asked whether they could go a bit higher, but did not really have that much leverage e.g., another offer in hand.

They weren't willing to move on base/bonus, but they threw in a 25K signing bonus and around 5K more equity per year. It's still not top of market, but the Y1 cash/bonus/equity package comes out to about 240K, and 250K if you count 401K, health insurance, etc. Y2 drops down a bit without the signing bonus.

Like others have said in this thread, think the lesson here is that there's no harm in politely asking for more, even when you don't necessarily have too much to negotiate with