Early engineers and post-IPO payouts?

Question

Any early engineers at unicorns/decacorn companies that stayed post-ipo? What did the payout look like and how did you position yourself to join that early? Current new grad and am trying to either go the FAANG route or a company that will IPO in 2 years...

edit: Will the stock within those two years be even worth it?

19g615kz678p63 · Accepted Answer

I don't see how it's possible to answer your question about stock worth. Every company is unique and if it was possible to predict their post IPO value, we'd all be millionaires.

What you can do is assess the conditions in which late stage startups grant equity. A good article to start with is https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/equity-for-software-engineers/

1zm00utkpoiserg · Answer

earlyish pm at roblox here, if it’s a positive outcome, the stock within those two years will def be worth it. payout was significant, but not really something i consciously tried to position myself for. i joined the company because i thought it would be a great opportunity, didn’t factor ipo into it

19g616l040zpal · Answer

I agree with what most folks have said here. One word of caution is about timing. It’s been a rough year so far for IPO’s. I would expect a lot of companies to delay unless they need the cash. If that two year time frame is important to you, the pre IPO option is risky. But, if you’re a new grad, you should not be trying to maximize earnings over the next 2 years. You should be trying to maximize earnings over the next 30 years. Pick whichever job will give you the best opportunity to learn and grow. Early career, the salary range is somewhat compressed. The difference between the median and the 75th percentile isn’t that large. For engineers 10 years out, that gap is huge - probably several hundred thousand dollars.

Taylor · Answer

It's impossible to tell. The safe bet is FAANG. The less safe bet is a company that plans on IPOing soon. Anyone who tells you something more concrete than that is guessing.

qwertyCoder · Answer

The most comprehensive guide for equity comp: https://www.holloway.com/g/equity-compensation

Also ok: https://www.levels.fyi/blog/evaluate-startup-offers.html

Early engineers and post-IPO payouts?

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