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Ask HN: A startup just offered me more money. What should I do?

1 points by hackDaily ↗ HN
So, I currently work as a web developer at a medium sized development firm with a few hundred clients. They've been in business for about 10 years and have a good track record. I don't have a CS degree, and my current company pays me 31,000. A startup with DEEP, DEEP pockets has offered to pay me 45K to start as their lead front end developer. The question is, do I take the money and ditch the security, or stay at my cozy, super-simple web dev job? Also, my current job would be totally screwed if I left them now, which is making it harder for me. Help me HN, thanks.

9 comments

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fredsanford
Tell your current boss you want a raise. Put on a little bit of pressure. (I.E., I have another offer, I want to stay here.) I would not tell them what the other offer was or who made the offer.

Use the info you just gained to make your decision. I feel pretty strongly that the old guys will not give you a nearly 50% raise but some raise would be nice. The startup life is not for everyone. Keep that in mind.

hackDaily
Thanks fredsanford, the startup life certainly isn't for everyone, and I'll need to consider that. The hours would be considerably longer.
kls
I would second the give your current employer the option if you like it there and would like to stay. Training is a pain and 15k is not that much for having to deal with 3 months of lost productivity while a new employe comes up to speed and that's if you don't have to replace the role several times to find a good candidate. You now know that you are worth 45k so don't let your current employer short change you, tell them you really like it and do not want to leave but that they will have to match. I look at work a little differently than many. I love my job and I love to develop but I work for money, if I did not have to I would be certainly working on my own ideas exclusively so if I have to work and the jobs are fairly similar I go to the highest bidder. Like it or not employment is a business transaction where each party is trying to get the better end of the deal based on the information they have. You just gained information that you are more valuable than you are being compensated for, don't let them convince you of reasons that you are not. With that said, if you have any agreements with your current employer that you will stay with them for any amount of time even if it was just verbal, you need to honor that agreement. If not you are a free agent and you should think of yourself as such.
tluyben2
Don't do things for the money solely; do you like to work in a startup, long and hard hours, knowing that they might belly-up when the startup-bubble bursts for a measly 14k extra? You can of course ask your boss for a raise anyway, that's usually a good plan if you didn't get one for a while.

It's important to consider stuff like: is this enough career advancement, do I need the money etc. Getting jobs for more money is not that hard if you would be looking atm, so other considerations outweigh the money.

CReber
Follow your heart! If you want to work for a startup (for no matter reason, money is a completely valid point) - do it! If you want to stay and help your company grow - do it! It's life, things change.
hackDaily
Thank you CReber. I do like my current company and the people I work with. I think I'm going to let my boss know I have an offer and that I don't REALLY want to leave, and try to get a little bump in my pay anyway. My heart is telling me to stay.
Egregore
You can tell startup that you have some unfinished project at the old job and you want to finish it part time.

If startup fails - I'm sure the old firm will take you back and even with a rise, because you'll have more experience. (I know some cases when people left one firm and then came back with a rise).

hackDaily
Well, that's an interesting solution Egregore. I'll have to take that into consideration, thanks for the input.
gexla
This depends on a lot of factors, such as age, being in a position to be able to take a risk, location, etc. If you don't have a lot of baggage then I would consider taking the jump to make a bit more cash and make sure I don't stagnate. The opportunity to learn something new and try a new experience would be enough to get me to jump.

For a web developer, 31K is not a lot. You probably wouldn't have too difficult of a time replacing that level of pay, especially if you are good.

Key words for me were "cozy" and "super-simple." I would leap at something more challenging for more money.

As for screwing your old company, just let them know well ahead of time. The company will manage. I'm sure they have had many worse disasters.