Depends on what you are looking for. Most folks are looking for a significant payout, and reality is outside of being one of the very first reps or a senior leader, most “equity” being offered to sellers isn’t worth shit.

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

This is true, and that's why I point to A or B. In those cases, you might have an opportunity to exercise and sell some in the C or later rounds when cash is raised at the higher valuations. If you get there early, are paid, and they make it to a D round or buy-out/IPO, then you are in the 7-figure arena (but these are hard to find most of the time).

saashunter2.0

Executive

Mid-Market Account Executive

Good point my man

buckets1

Politicker

Big fan of the smaller but more likely payouts of D and E stage. Find a company that’s found product market fit and is marching toward IPO. Won’t make you millions and able to retire but in my case I used my RSUs to fund the down payment on a starter home. I also switched to sales from a different career path at an F500 company though so I like the structure and resources of larger companies.

saashunter2.0

Executive

Mid-Market Account Executive

Good input!

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

This is spot on. I've had 2 exits and both were from joining post series C. Not "change your life" money but one covered down payment on my first house and the other covered a major remodeling/landscaping project at my current house. None of the startup's I've joined pre series C have made it to exit. I'd rather take a layup on a 5 figure payout than try to make a full court buzzer beater on a series A. This article had some good data to back up this argument: https://www.realfinanceguy.com/home/2018/7/21/joining-a-startup-after-series-a

saashunter2.0

Executive

Mid-Market Account Executive

Love it thank you for sharing this!

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I voted B.

buckets1

Politicker

💯 @braintank layups all day. Other bonus is worst case scenario at a later stage company you don’t perform, get out on a PIP, and have three months to find a new job. Earlier stage company could go belly up and you’re left scrambling. Call me soft but the only way I’m taking a chance on a startup is if it’s my own thing that I’m founding.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

Pre-A...but if you can't do that, get in at A before splits, dilutions, and the like become OUTRAGEOUS.

My humble opinion: Once you get past C, it's likely a lifestyle business that will either A) never get acquired/IPO or B) Get acquired by a PE firm, and then you'll see culture and normalcy go out the window.

saashunter2.0

Executive

Mid-Market Account Executive

Dilutions, this has happened already in Series A

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

It's all about risk/reward balance. You'll get more equity at A or B but the likelihood of an exit is lower. At C or D you'll get less, but the likelihood of exit event is higher.

SaaSyBee

Politicker

Founder

I've joined companies pre-funding and joined companies after a seed round and so far, nothing worthwhile in terms of payout. So I clearly know nothing, but I know that next time I'd take either totally bootstrapped (so more control over my life) or Series B+.

saashunter2.0

Executive

Mid-Market Account Executive

Yep thanks @SaaSyBee

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

I have worked at a series A and a series D so I don't have a lot of data points to draw a valuable conclusion. I've also never had an exit so I don't have any experience cashing in equity.

I really enjoy the "fly by the seat of your pants" of working at the series A. I didn't care for the series D as it was almost too structured and they were so concerned about "being the biggest" that everything was micro-managed like crazy.

saashunter2.0

Executive

Mid-Market Account Executive

Thanks @SaaSam!

FinanceEngineer

Politicker

Sr Director, sales and partnerships

You want to join around A or early B. They are eager to grow after the A and will need sales so you will have more room to really work. After the B, you have a ton of cash to really push and more structure will be put in place. You still get equity, so that's a plus. After the B, you might be making a little more with your base, but your equity will be only a small part of your comp (unless you are on a real rocketship).

saashunter2.0

Executive

Mid-Market Account Executive

Good stuff @FinanceEngineer

PhlipOut

Politicker

Account Executive

It's up to you.
If you join early your equity will be worth more.
but from series C onwards you know there is a good market fit, product should be developed and you can actually sell it.

before that there will be a lot of "business development" while everyone is figuring out how to make it work

saashunter2.0

Executive

Mid-Market Account Executive

For sure this is where we’re at now

samael404

Old School Bravo

Senior Sales Engineer

Too variable to pick one. I've worked at pre-series A (whatever that's called), Series A, and Series B. It really makes a huge difference how the founders structured equity in the first place, as well as how diluted shares get over time. In an ideal world, you're there from the beginning and ride it up, but that might not be as beneficial as you might think if the equity pool is 100M shares and your grant is 10 or 20k - and all of this is assuming the company 'makes' it. Early stages have a better payout, but lots of struggles to make it to the more mature stages where the payout is more likely.

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saashunter2.0

Which 'series' for a startup is ideal to jump in on for sales and equity?

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