Hello HN,<p>I've been invited to join a startup and I'm pretty keen on the idea so far. But I have a couple of qns that I need some help with.<p>1. They are offering me equity. Should I take it? Or skip this and stick to a higher salary?<p>2. They just closed a Series A and their product is already profitable. Is it polite for me to ask for figures?<p>(I'm assuming figures will be helpful for me to determine if I should take equity.)
Definitely ask to see the figures. If they truly are profitable and have closed a series A - TAKE IT.<p>Usually startups that are successful have a tough vetting process. If they want to hire you, they want to hire you. Do not get greedy, but take some equity and get a bit higher salary as well.<p>Be careful, though. I have seen a few things about company exits that leave some shareholders with nothing (some stipulation with the deal itself). Good luck
1. Don't reject equity, but don't lower your salary for it either.<p>2. If their product is profitable, why are they taking funding?<p>3. Go ahead and ask for numbers, they shouldn't be secret.
If they are really profitable (and make sure to check that), I'd take as much equity as I could, but I'd definitely ask what % of all equity these stocks represent.<p>It could be like "here, we're giving you 10,000 SHARES!!!", only to later find out they issued 10 billion shares.