Salary for an expert programmer in Boston?
December 11, 2009 8:53 PM Subscribe
What is a reasonable salary these days for an expert backend programmer in Boston?
This is a full-time job, for a startup.
Assume a healthy amount of stock options, and a promising startup (first revenue, great investors).
Also, assume someone who has plenty of experience, and prefers to work in a startup, not in a corporation, but also wants to be paid decently.
Thanks!
This is a full-time job, for a startup.
Assume a healthy amount of stock options, and a promising startup (first revenue, great investors).
Also, assume someone who has plenty of experience, and prefers to work in a startup, not in a corporation, but also wants to be paid decently.
Thanks!
20% more than the same position in a large, stable company.
Really? Almost everyone I know working as a startup programmer has taken some paycut, frequently much more than 20% (although NYC stable company salaries tend to be much higher which I'm sure skews it a bit). The idea being that yes, startups are a risk, but they should be giving you equity to make the gamble worthwhile, and they frequently don't have cash to give. Personally I would almost rather work at a startup if I could get paid as much or more than I can make in a more stable role but that is pretty much impossible.
The experienced programmers I know who have gotten in very early (first 5 people) in startups here in NYC are earning somewhere around 80-85K plus equity and maybe some benefits.
posted by ch1x0r at 8:07 AM on December 12, 2009
Really? Almost everyone I know working as a startup programmer has taken some paycut, frequently much more than 20% (although NYC stable company salaries tend to be much higher which I'm sure skews it a bit). The idea being that yes, startups are a risk, but they should be giving you equity to make the gamble worthwhile, and they frequently don't have cash to give. Personally I would almost rather work at a startup if I could get paid as much or more than I can make in a more stable role but that is pretty much impossible.
The experienced programmers I know who have gotten in very early (first 5 people) in startups here in NYC are earning somewhere around 80-85K plus equity and maybe some benefits.
posted by ch1x0r at 8:07 AM on December 12, 2009
alms: "I'd say $80K-$120"
That's essentially exactly what I was going to come in here to say. I might tighten it up a little bit and say that if you're looking for a solid plenty-of-experience senior developer, that's a high-90s job. If you're looking for creme-de-la-creme or management experience/responsibilities (which you don't really specify), that pushes it into six-digit territory.
I also disagree with b1tr0t. Pretty much anyone who you want working for you at a startup knows that there's some inherit degree of job instability. They'll be there because they believe the company is going somewhere, and they'll be therefore more willing to put up with a somewhat lower salary because of it. You might be able to shave 10% off of the "normal" range and still get plenty of good bites.
posted by Plutor at 11:27 AM on December 12, 2009
That's essentially exactly what I was going to come in here to say. I might tighten it up a little bit and say that if you're looking for a solid plenty-of-experience senior developer, that's a high-90s job. If you're looking for creme-de-la-creme or management experience/responsibilities (which you don't really specify), that pushes it into six-digit territory.
I also disagree with b1tr0t. Pretty much anyone who you want working for you at a startup knows that there's some inherit degree of job instability. They'll be there because they believe the company is going somewhere, and they'll be therefore more willing to put up with a somewhat lower salary because of it. You might be able to shave 10% off of the "normal" range and still get plenty of good bites.
posted by Plutor at 11:27 AM on December 12, 2009
I would say anything over 120K is unlikely -- boards like startups lean and mean up top. A healthy amount of equity is the norm.
posted by mozhet at 12:38 PM on December 12, 2009
posted by mozhet at 12:38 PM on December 12, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
I'd say $80K-$120. It depends on a number of factors. How young is the startup? If this programmer is employee #10 you can probably pay them less (and give them more stock) than if they're employee #110.
Also, how expert is the programmer, what are their lifestyle needs, and what are they used to getting paid? A mortgage, massive student loans, and dependents will increase the person's salary needs. If someone has been in senior positions getting paid over $100K you will have to make the startup very enticing to get them for less than that. On the other hand, someone who is footloose and fancy-free and who doesn't have decades of high salary experience may be available for $80K or even $70K.
WARNING: IANAL, but I still know that it's mostly illegal to factor age into hiring decisions, and it may also be illegal to factor in family status (i.e. do they have a spouse and/or kids).
You could also check salary.com. Their information is pretty useful.
Good luck!
posted by alms at 5:45 AM on December 12, 2009