Thread by @yishan

Much has been made of the “10x Engineer,” but I am here to tell you of another kind of ultra-valuable startup employee, the “Angel Employee.”
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The Angel Employee is someone who has already had a significant exit but is so dedicated to their craft that they are willing to saddle up again and join your startup, volunteering to take a steep cut in salary, in return for an expanded equity package.

Angel Employees are often high-performing employees who were early and critical in the their last startup. They have confidence in their own ability to add real value quickly, hence their willingness to bet on themselves and your mission.

Angel Employees are disproportionately beneficial because the salary/equity tradeoff they ask for is like getting an additional $50-100k in angel investment per year PLUS the talents of someone who’s a proven quantity, working on building your startup’s product and business.

(Note: if we want to be strict about this, I differentiate between Angel Employees and Founders who take little/no salary, who may be similar but aren’t the point I’m trying to make here)

I’d say, “Try to hire as many of these people as you can” (similar to the “hire 10x engineers” advice) but it’s tough to actively recruit someone with the explicit intention of ASKING them to take a lower salary.

You typically recruit someone like this expecting to pay full salary (since they are great), and then they surprise you by volunteering on their own when you get to the offer negotiation stage.

I have been surprised and honored by everyone who’s joined our team who has volunteered to do this, as it’s a real vote of confidence in the importance of our mission, and a low-key way of flexing by showing a quiet and sure confidence in their own abilities.

I know early Facebook had at least one such employee (possibly two; I wasn’t privy to her salary), and both of those people were incredibly critical to the later success of the company.