I know, I know, another one of these :), but I figured I'd get the best answers here since so many people have first hand experience and YC companies with funding (Xobni, Weebly, Justin.tv etc) are hiring as well.
A few details: the company has raised a seed round (few hundred thousand) and I'll be employee #4 (2 co-founders). There's an existing codebase as well. So in many ways it's similar to joining Xobni & co. at their maturity.
The offer: 1% equity and below market level salary (at best 70% of what I can get at a 'normal' job).
So my question is obviously: is this fair? I know the equity is fair, maybe even a bit generous, but what of the salary?
I'll be getting about the same as the co-founders. Should I hold out for a bit more? I'm not expecting them to rise to market-level since they're a startup and all, but figure something close would be reasonable.
P.S: I'm a developer.
What is the startup's next proof point / how far away? How far away from launch are they? Are they 10% burned through their seed round, or 80%? I.e. when is their out of cash date?
How big is the option pool? What do you and the founders think your dilution will look like through exit?
Do you get [ partial single ] and/or double trigger acceleration? If single, what do the founders have? (Note: the founders acceleration can affect valuation at early stages of company.)
How much does this startup need you?
(Would be happy to chat with you briefly to give you my thoughts on your situation. Email: my username with a period inbetween first.last + xobni.com.)