I'm considering joining an AI/ML startup co-founded by my research professor after collaborating with him for the past year. During initial discussions, I told them in the ballpark of $100k as my salary expectation, though I'm now questioning if I undersold myself.The startup secured Series A funding 9 months ago, and the team is planning a larger Series B round in a month or so (less than a year old startup). The current team consists of approximately 20 employees, with like 6 of them being part-time professors. I would be one of three engineers responsible for building the AI inference infrastructure, with my role split evenly between research and engineering.The position is fully remote (So I can visit my family back home for a few months and keep working), and the team has a great publishing record. I would produce 2-3 papers there before my PhD starts, which would be in my specific area of research, a big factor for me. I anticipate a base salary of around $100k; we haven't yet discussed equity or benefits, including health insurance coverage, that I really need. They want me to start literally 1 day after my graduation.For context, I'm completing my BS in CS (from a top 40 state school) next week and have three options:An AI consulting firm where I previously interned offers a $90k base salary, a $10k performance-based bonus, and comprehensive benefits (401k, great health insurance, free lunches, and a snack bar). Could ask for a bigger base but won't be higher than $105k in the best case. While the team culture is chill and the workload relatively easy, growth potential is almost zero, and projects mostly implement current AI tech. I could get a month of PTO to go home and see my family. They know about my PhD plans and are fine with that, even offering to stay part-time during the PhD.The Startup I described. An important factor is that I'm actively applying for PhD programs, and this would practically be a 50% PreDoctoral appointment in the area of research that I want to pursue, which makes it very attractive. They also know about PhD plans and offered to stay part-time during the PhD.I could tap into my connections at Google and have a nonzero chance of getting an SWE position, but no research, and I am unsure if it makes sense with only 8-9 more months before a PhD would start.My key questions are:What equity range should I expect from a Series A startup in this position?Is $100k base salary competitive for this role, considering it will be a lot of work?How should I factor in the value of benefits when negotiating total compensation?

Decisions like these are usually pretty complicated and require weighing a lot of different things. That being said, I think in your case it's pretty clear-cut. If I were you I'd definitely choose the startup. Sounds like very interesting work and is well aligned with your future career intentions. 100k for fully remote is imo a good deal. I don't know where your family lives, but if it's LCOL that's great. Otherwise I would split my time between family and a LCOL area if I were you.

Depends where you are and what you are looking to do (where your passion lies). Unless you're in places such as Cali or NY, 100k doesn't seem all that bad. Maybe could've pushed for 120k and negotiated downwards to a slightly higher base, but would you want to go through all that for a bit extra?Large companies do give better benefits in general but tbh you can get it some years later, if you're coming out of BS then you're still young. Get experience that will rocket you up in the next job X-years down the road.

The growth and knowledge that you would get in a startup is extremely high. The control over things would be high and also the working timings would be high considering startup and goals. Even in the worst case you would have gained deep knowledge which would land good job in th future.

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I'm considering joining an AI/ML startup co-founded by my research professor after collaborating with him for the past year. During initial discussions, I told them in the ballpark of $100k as my salary expectation, though I'm now questioning if I undersold myself.

The startup secured Series A funding 9 months ago, and the team is planning a larger Series B round in a month or so (less than a year old startup). The current team consists of approximately 20 employees, with like 6 of them being part-time professors. I would be one of three engineers responsible for building the AI inference infrastructure, with my role split evenly between research and engineering.

The position is fully remote (So I can visit my family back home for a few months and keep working), and the team has a great publishing record. I would produce 2-3 papers there before my PhD starts, which would be in my specific area of research, a big factor for me. I anticipate a base salary of around $100k; we haven't yet discussed equity or benefits, including health insurance coverage, that I really need. They want me to start literally 1 day after my graduation.

For context, I'm completing my BS in CS (from a top 40 state school) next week and have three options:

An AI consulting firm where I previously interned offers a $90k base salary, a $10k performance-based bonus, and comprehensive benefits (401k, great health insurance, free lunches, and a snack bar). Could ask for a bigger base but won't be higher than $105k in the best case. While the team culture is chill and the workload relatively easy, growth potential is almost zero, and projects mostly implement current AI tech. I could get a month of PTO to go home and see my family. They know about my PhD plans and are fine with that, even offering to stay part-time during the PhD.
The Startup I described. An important factor is that I'm actively applying for PhD programs, and this would practically be a 50% PreDoctoral appointment in the area of research that I want to pursue, which makes it very attractive. They also know about PhD plans and offered to stay part-time during the PhD.
I could tap into my connections at Google and have a nonzero chance of getting an SWE position, but no research, and I am unsure if it makes sense with only 8-9 more months before a PhD would start.

My key questions are:

What equity range should I expect from a Series A startup in this position?
Is $100k base salary competitive for this role, considering it will be a lot of work?
How should I factor in the value of benefits when negotiating total compensation?

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TenuredGeekSoftware Engineer

As with most startup-related things, there might not be any clear cut answer to these questions, but from my experience here's my take on what you've presented. Generally, for a Series A startup and given that you're a key member of the team that's comprised of only 3 engineers with you being one of them, I'd expect around 0.1%-1% equity. If you're able to still negotiate though, I'd make sure to ask what their estimate of the company's valuation is and what the vesting schedule looks like. As for salary, $100k is still pretty competitive for someone just out of undergrad. If you factor in the fully remote part too that $100k location-agnostic position can go pretty far. If you're concerned about the workload, it could be worth discussing how the role will work if you decide to go part-time when your PhD starts so that it won't get in the way of that. For benefits, I think something that might not be as obviously accounted for here is the professional development "benefit" that comes from working at a company that's directly tied to what you want to do for your PhD. One big concern is the health insurance that you mentioned you really need. If you need it that bad, I'd make sure to ask about benefits like insurance ASAP because it could impact your decision considering the AI consulting offer does have benefits at least.

ominous239Business Operations Manager

To add to that, from your description the startup seems to offer good growth opportunities and that 100k can easily be increased as you get more experience and time to showcase your skills

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