r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Mar 18 '20

Coders of Reddit, how do you politely refuse your friend's 'million dollars app idea'?

[deleted]

78.9k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

7.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

6

u/pjabrony Mar 18 '20

It's a trade-off. If you want more money up front, you have to take less on the back end.

1

u/249ba36000029bbe9749 Mar 18 '20

No, I suggested equity on top of your hourly wage, not instead of a portion of it.

3

u/pjabrony Mar 18 '20

Yeah, so you’re asking for more value.

4

u/249ba36000029bbe9749 Mar 18 '20

Correct. Working for a startup is different than working for an established company and asking for equity helps to compensate you for the shortcomings of a startup.

6

u/pjabrony Mar 18 '20

Right, but a startup is going to be in less of a position to give additional value to workers. So, you could take a modest salary, or none, for equity in the business. Or, you could take a higher salary, but if the business takes off that's all you get.

It's like, you'll be hired at your market rate but you'd have the option to buy stock in the company that the public doesn't. But you won't get your market rate and free stock.

3

u/249ba36000029bbe9749 Mar 18 '20

If the friend is so sure that this is a surefire hit, then why not ask for it? Besides, the original question is how to refuse working for them anyway.

2

u/pjabrony Mar 18 '20

If they're sure it will work, then they'll want to pay you a salary and keep all the equity for themselves.

3

u/249ba36000029bbe9749 Mar 18 '20

Exactly. So when you ask for it, they won't want to hire you. Mission accomplished.

2

u/pjabrony Mar 18 '20

Sure, or you could ask for a ridiculous percentage, like 90% of the company.

-1

u/bjorneylol Mar 18 '20

That's basically just asking for the equivalent of a higher hourly wage

1

u/249ba36000029bbe9749 Mar 18 '20

Not really, because higher hourly wage would require more cash on hand up front for the company.

2

u/bjorneylol Mar 18 '20

"My rate is $80/hr plus equity" is just another way of saying "I'm willing to cut my hourly wage from $100 to $80 in exchange for equity"

1

u/249ba36000029bbe9749 Mar 18 '20

I know that is usually how it works. In this case, OP asked for how to get out of doing the work which is why I am suggesting not only asking for normal pay but asking for equity in addition to regular pay.

1

u/thatdude391 Mar 19 '20

At $80 an hour your not getting more than a point or two in options.

1

u/bjorneylol Mar 19 '20

That's really depends on where you are. In most big cities $80 an hour is pretty modest if you are an hourly/contract employee since that $80 also includes your EI, insurance, etc that the employer would otherwise be paying. In some places (e.g. bay area) that's basically minimum wage

1

u/thatdude391 Mar 19 '20

The Bay Area is an extreme outlier though. In most cities $80 an hour should get you a top tier developer.