On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 2:02 PM, alain94040 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi, > > Good thinking. One drawback of your system, I believe is that I don't > see an upside for contributors, if they bill their hours at a fixed > price. So let's say I worked on your project for 20% of the time for > $2000 total. I didn't really work on it to make $2000. I worked on it > so that the day Google comes and buys the project for one million > dollars, I make $200,000. > > So are you sure that the original team will be really motivated? > > Alain > Founder, FairSoftware
It may seem a bit counter intuitive for a programmer to ask for a maximum (potential) salary, but I think it has several advantages. Many people may be motivated by the possibility that their company becomes the next Google, but I prefer a more calculated approach. I would set an hourly rate for myself, estimate the probability of ever getting paid (and when) and ask a "potential salary" based on that math. If I spread my time over multiple projects and if my estimates are good enough, I'm making a good living. It's the same reasoning an investor has, only with labor in stead of cash. In all likeliness the company will either fail or become a small to medium sized buisness (I would love to see the numbers and the driving factors here...). I want my employer to be realistic about that and adjust his hiring policy to these odds. I expect this from any employer: whether he pays in cash or in equity. When an employer pays me in cash, then in theory I don't have to care about his buisness plan: he is the one bearing the risk. (Of course in practice, I do care). When an employer pays me in equity the roles are reversed: he doesn't have to care about my wallet and I'm the one bearing the risk. So he needs to tell me approximately how and when he plans on paying me. With a percentage he can get away with a vague long term answer, with an absolute amount he will have to come up with a concrete short/medium term answer. The kind of stuff I would like my employer to tell me: * in which order are you going to pay off your employees? * which part of the revenue goes to this and how soon? Another complication when you own a percentage of equity, is that the only way to get paid is to sell your share. If you sell your share, you are giving a signal to the market and your colleges will probably be unhappy with your move. This makes it even harder to estimate your ROI as a contributor. Sjors --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Silicon Beach Australia" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
