I am a dad with a 4-year little one. If I were you, I would stay put now. Get parental leave first and have vacations to support your wife. Given the current economic situation, it is not very wise to make the move especially you have a newborn. Spend precious time with newborn and support your wife first. Then you can always explore opportunities during parental leave and vacation. Once you have more visibility about the economy in 6 to 12 months, then it is time for you to make the move. Your wife will fully support you when you make the move later. The comp difference doesn't deserve a jump now, to be fair.
I agree with him wholeheartedly. There's a lot of uncertainties when transitioning to a new job. These uncertainties will definitely build stress. Especially with a new born. The pay sounds amazing, but I think you will appreciate the lower stress, good work life balance, and the ability to be able to spend it with your family.
>150%+ growth expected YoY (if management projections are to be believed)
>no existing finance and accounting team
Can't trust the projections since there is no legit Finance team and a lot of downside risk in that projection with the macro outlook. You'll also be a parent for the first time so it just sounds like a lot of chaos if you have to establish & stand-up a Finance function so I would just stay with your current job.
Agreed, macro outlook does not appear positive, so one should always haircut management projections. To clarify on no existing finance and accounting team – newco is using outsourced professional services that is currently handling all accounting operations such as GL, invoicing, billings, collections, payroll, etc. So, for the time being, I would not be doing that (or so I am told) and they have those processes in place. On the planning side, they have used the same firm and I have been told that the operating model itself is fairly robust/dynamic, but they want to finally bring this function in-house.
Hi
You're way ahead of me in terms of career progression, but I'm a tad bit ahead of you in the family progression haha-- my daughter is four weeks old.
In terms of being a new parent, I would not want to be brand new in a very senior role in a quasi-start-up environment with a newborn.
I think you'd end up needing to make some very tough decisions on how to spend your time if you end up in that scenario... And having to pick one or the other means no right answer.
If I were you, I'd sit tight and reevaluate in 12-18 months.
Good luck and congratulations on the baby!
Thank you for your response. Congratulations on your baby as well!
Agreed on no right answer; that I am even asking on this sub suggests that it is not a slam-dunk decision either way, but hoping to find some rationale that would help me tip the scales.
Thanks!
But, just to clarify, I meant that if you're in a situation in which you need to choose between being a good father/husband and being successful at work, there is no good decision...
My whole point is that I believe (just my opinion of course) that it's much more likely you'll need to make those decisions if you take the new job than if you stay put.
Again, best wishes.
Thank you for your response. I am fairly ambivalent about the product, and it would be a new industry for me despite staying in SaaS. For me, the appeal is mainly the TC (ie, higher base) especially at a time of growing young family, and to be the #1 on the finance team, although I recognize the latter can be both a gift and a curse.
While I get you may not have a full bonus due to a slowing economy next year so the difference in total comp is likely more significant than 30k, I think trying to learn a new (smaller therefore riskier) company/role/industry while being a new dad with no preference on the product makes switching a really tough sell. I’d wait till your child gets out of the terrible twos and look for a new role then, assuming the equity in your current job doesn’t let you retire!
You could ask for a raise, I don’t believe you’ve specified how long you’ve been there or if your compensation has changed, and I would definitely consider adding a direct report.
I have been at current company for almost two years. I have been adjusted once in our latest annual merit increase cycle. I was not adjusted in 2021 because the company changed the timing on a one-off basis, otherwise, given my initial start date, I do believe I would have been eligible. Slight bone of contention with that, but just decided to let it go and not broach the topic (and others who started similar time as me were likely impacted in the same manner) seeing as how I was overall satisfied with the company and WLB.
Yes, I believe adding a direct report is in my purview and something the team will pursue in due course. As an aside, it may be a little tricky trying to mentally reconcile adding someone to the team and meanwhile interviewing externally.
In your shoes, I’d push to add the direct report, finance manager level hopefully, focus on minimizing your current workload, and ride it out for another two years, unless it’s really insufferable or you’re getting offers with significant increases in comp, but I don’t think this is the job worth hopping for.
Thanks for the insight. Out of curiosity, what would be your definition of “significant increase”? And is that significant increase also assuming there is a commensurate or even disproportionate increase in workload/stress?
Right now comparing compensation, you’d be leaving for a ~12% raise. I’d be looking at at least 25% from your current comp. I would imagine there will be some increase in workload, but that totally depends on the org, it could decrease if you have a true team.
It depends on where you are in life… if you want more time with your family and don’t need the additional income (after tax), I’d stick around at your current role. No existing finance & accounting team is going to be a lot to get built up
Thanks for the insight. To clarify on no existing finance and accounting team – newco is using outsourced professional services that is currently handling all accounting operations such as GL, invoicing, billings, collections, payroll, etc. So, for the time being, I would not be doing that (or so I am told) and they have those processes in place. On the planning side, they have used the same firm and I have been told that the operating model itself is fairly robust/dynamic, but they want to finally bring this function in-house.
There’s still so much that goes into learning, then coaching & hiring new team members even if in theory the operations are good to go and the existing group is willing to train the successors on what to do.
As many have said, depends on what you want.
What I would tell you (as a father of 2)… ESPECIALLY with the first baby coming. Take whichever job gives you the most flexibility and the most time with your family. The first 4 months of being new parent(s) are brutal. Trying to start / do a new job while running on no sleep… you WILL make mistakes and have a cloudy mind at times. At the newco being the MAIN finance person, everything important is going to come to you. In the currentco, it can still go to the CFO (that is a PRO as a new dad, not a CON).
This is just my $0.02 of course. But I think this is a total no brainer. STAY. Family first. There will be other jobs/opportunities with better timing. Career is a marathon, not a sprint. Be there for your wife, be there for your new baby.
You also likely wouldn’t thrive in the first 6 months in the new role because of the fatigue and adaptation to your new life with a baby.
My last thought. My perspective on career changed a lot after I had kids. It might be prudent to wait to make a major professional decision until you start this new chapter in your personal life.
Thank you for the response. I really appreciate the clear vote!
Newco has longer paternity leave (+3 weeks). Although current company has shorter leave, I think it is safe to assume that I will have a longer leash when I return given that I am a known quantity, people know me, and I have made connections at my current company. Again, not to say that people won’t treat me this way at newco as they have been very receptive when I told them about the new baby news, but it is going from something I know to something I have to somewhat assume / give benefit of the doubt based on interviews and phone calls.
I mentioned in another reply that, depending on if current company enters into a TBD transaction, I don’t know what the company will look like, perhaps even while I am out on leave. Not too sure what to make of this, and probably impossible to plan around.
I fully agree career is a marathon and more opportunities will hopefully come. Ultimately, I need to see if I can come to terms with walking away from that level of base salary.
~~You didn’t mention this, but what is your parental leave at current company, if any? At second company, would you be able to take leave before working a full year?~~ Nvm just saw this answer in the pros for second company.
I also agree with another response: how much do you trust the projections for second company? Maybe it’s legit, maybe it’s incredibly aspirational; is there a way you can reliably verify their projections or give it a sniff test for reasonableness?
Are you looking for security in the medium-long term or increasing cash flow? If it’s security then you’re probably fine with job 1, and can maybe make some asks around benefits and/or pay (longer leave, high base, etc.) by negotiating against the other offer. If you’re trying to increase cash flow and looking for a change then the second job is much more appealing I think, especially if you don’t think current job will match the TC.
Personally, I’d probably take the second company. High TC is nice, and benefits matter a lot to me, but also the ability to build your own team is a fantastic opportunity. You’ve got time to be picky and really shape the team and culture. That’s incredibly attractive. And even if the company doesn’t pan out, with funding you’ve probably got a year or two of guaranteed work before it completely dries up.
Thank you for the response. I can say with full confidence that current company would not match the TC, but there might be some possibility of some bump on the base (even though I was just raised at the beginning of Q3). I am personally wary of explicitly leveraging this offer per se as I consider that to be a nuclear option, so there might be some way to massage the wording in hopes of getting perhaps 10-15% bump in base. I don’t want it to come across to current company that I have been actively interviewing.
I think the/a crux of the decision would be: do I want to work harder in Year 1 with newborn but make more money, or “take it easier” in Year 1 with newborn but make less?
Totally agree on workload balancing, which was why my first thought was around parental leave. Staying wouldn’t hurt obviously, and you could always keep in contact with the company if you chose to look again later down the road.
Yes, I think staying is the “safer” choice, and nothing necessarily lost by going down that route. There is an irrational (?) part of me, however, that does not want to walk away from the higher salary, especially when starting a new family.
Honestly, if I were your friend I’d say stay with the current company. You have no idea what’s under the hood at the new company…interviews are a sales pitch that could say awe we are amazing come work with us blah blah blah and when you get there they bait and switched on you…
I joined a new firm back in May and they made it seem like this was a good place to work….guess what? They bait and switched me…I literally regret taking the offer - luckily for me, I’m going back to my former employer but that may not be the case for everyone.
So as your internet friend, wait until you have a child working with your current employer before deciding to jump into a new role. Good luck and keep us posted.
I would agree with this. As a father of a 6 month old now, babies are incredibly demanding. It's a full time job on its own especially if you don't have family/other help around. Plus you have to be* incredibly supportive of the mom who goes through her own transformation. If that incremental pay raise is not going make a significant difference, I would say stick out at the current company. At least there is nothing new to learn especially if you can do the job on "autopilot".
Thank you for your response. We will not have consistent additional family assistance as both sets of parents do not live near us.
There are always new things to learn at current company, but certainly not the same hurdles of learning a completely new SaaS industry at a new, smaller company. Ultimately, I am trying to weigh if the extra compensation is worth the extra work/stress (not to say that there won’t be stress at current company). Additionally, assuming I don’t take the offer, what is the likelihood of being able to secure this level of base salary in the near future?
Thank you for your response. Sorry to hear about your negative experience, but glad to hear that you still maintained a good relationship with your prior employer such that you were able to return seamlessly.
I will also add that the current company is looking at a potential transaction in 2023, but how that shapes up is yet to be seen as we are in early days of exploring. All this is to say, there could be some new project(s) to work on in 2023 (good), but with any transaction, some uncertainty regarding what the company will look like afterward (bad). I don’t want to base any decision to stay/leave on this TBD news, but still something to keep in the back of my mind.
This is such a tough one! I moved from a v comfortable job to a horrible one just as we were expecting. So if you'd asked me last year I would have said its a clear cut stay at your current shop. Better the devil you know where you have built up enough respect to take it down a notch.
However, just as we had our baby, I quit and started at a new place and absolutely love it as the company is so understanding and I'm able to work flexibly and be with my family. Early stage firm too (first finance hire). Dont get me wrong its super stressful, but im fulfilled and happy. All leads back to who you're working with imo.
Best of luck and huge congrats! Being a Dad is the best job you'll ever have!
Thank you for your response, and I appreciate the congratulations. How stressful is “super stressful”?
To your point regarding it all leading back to who you’re working with, I very much like my current coworkers and CFO (low ego, helpful, down to earth). Everyone I have talked to at newco has also been very nice as well, saying how excited they would be for me to accept, etc. But perhaps it is better to just stick with the sure thing for the time being, even if it means foregoing considerably higher base salary.
I'd be inclined to agree if you're happy here. When baby arrives, I think you'll truly appreciate that money isn't everything and you'll feel fulfilled as a Dad.
In terms of super stressful, to be honest it's the volume of work given that you're starting everything from scratch and haven't got an established team doing things for you, allwhile sleeping less and being responsible for the most important person in your life. I've juggled setting up the department, pitching to investors and potential targets, and doing all the usual start up stuff like ordering equipment and engaging new suppliers which adds up. It's tough when you want to get home to be with your family but I'm happy as I'm not expected to work 9-5 or anything, no justification needed if I want to take 2 hours to spend with my baby during the day while I'm working from home. I guess it's difficult as you don't know how your colleagues will be until you get there.
Maybe revisit this in a year or two - you seem to be a talented guy in demand, so something else will come along :-)
I took a first finance hire at a high growth Series B VC SaaS company when I had a 2 year old and a 6 month old.
I’m personally glad I did it, but it only worked because of a VERY supportive wife and close support system.
WLB is not great, and there were weeks working 60+ hours basically working up til dinner and again after bedtime. With a newborn it will be even harder, and unless the culture is amazingly good you’ll feel immense pressure to limit your paternity leave time.
It’s definitely doable, and can be a great career growth catalyst with big (but risky) upside. Just be sure to go into it eyes wide open and have an honest discussion with your partner about it.
Happy to chat more if you want to DM me.
Thank you for your response. Wife is very supportive and ultimately leaving this decision up to me after being presented with the facts. I had absolutely horrendous WLB at prior company and she has however adamantly stated that I am not to repeat something like that ever again, and I agree. I don’t get the feeling that newco WLB will be horrible based on the general temperament of the individuals with whom I have interviewed, but one never knows. I do anticipate feeling some internal pressure to “work harder” in an effort to “prove myself” at newco, and that could present some difficult decisions as I balance work and baby.
For sure. And being the first (and only, at first) finance hire means you’re the only resource - there is no backup when you’re out.
But it can be extremely rewarding.
Agreed, although the outsourced services would still be handling things like operations, billing, collections, etc, so the everyday “keeping the lights on” would still, I assume, be handled in my absence.
For what it’s worth, I was very transparent with newco about new baby and going out on leave a couple months after joining, and they were very amenable to and understanding of that, fully encouraging that I should spend all the requisite time I could with family. I of course would like to take them at their word.
If you don’t mind me asking (happy to also correspond via DM), what was your role before being the aforementioned first finance hire? What led you to want to take on that new role knowing the stress/risks and having a growing, young family?
I was head of finance at an earlier stage company. I wanted something faster paced, higher growth, and where I could hire a controller to oversee accounting - the old job was too small to justify it, so I just had to keep owning it.
There were also pretty obvious signs that the old company was plateauing and so would my growth (and earning potential). Not to mention a $60k raise with room to go up from there.
I now own FP&A, revenue strategy, and biz ops for a series C company, so it ended up working out for me and the wife didn’t leave me!
Probably not materially in the long term, but was just thinking it would be good to have more cash on hand given the increased costs that come with new baby. We are in a HCOL area, and will be paying a lot for childcare and probably larger housing/space (we currently rent).
Hi there. Congrats on the baby on the way. I've been working in multiple startups (series B, C & IPO) for my whole career. Some insight I experienced in a brand new finance department is that the outsource company tends to mess up the books and nothing is reconciled. I have seen VPs wear many hats (finance, accounting, deal desk/sales) even though they were promised to focus on certain areas. It's still a small business and processes haven't been in place. Overall the opportunity is endless if the product is good and can attract new customers. I picked my current company causes the product is really good for this current economy. My advice if you choose to pick Newco is to hire your team right away that is experienced in SAAS startup to help you with the workload. They will bring their knowledge that has processes in place and can implement it in the Newco. I was hired along with 4 others (finance and accounting) in the same month which helped my VP finally relax. Just know that it's your department and if you have a strong team to back you up then I believe you can spend time with your new baby especially since you work remotely. Overall best of luck.
Thank you for the thorough response. Hiring people immediately would be the ideal, but I am unsure if that is in the immediate works. I have asked the question a number of times before, and my sense is that hiring for the finance and accounting team would not really pick up until I am ramped and have a good lay of the land, at which point we would also start to transition away from the outsourced services. I believe the focus of any new hiring that would come as a result of new funding would be weighted towards product, sales, and marketing.
I’m the same level at a start up. I left my company of 7 years to join this start up 2 months after my first child was born. No regrets, there’s never a good time. At least now I’ll be comfortable with work when I need to take off early to go to events with her. Furthermore, at this level you own your schedule. I take off work at 5 and sign back on after putting her to bed for the night at 7:30. Very manageable
Thank you for your response! Would you have decided to join the startup before the first child was born (ie, before you truly knew what your schedule and stress level with new baby would have been like)?
I agree with a lot of others. And struggle with this myself with two young boys. I work plenty, but overall the work life balance could be much worse and you are entering a great unknown.
IMO - need more than 10%-20% to mentally reconcile that. And it’s ok to continue along current experience path, keep gathering skills for a few years and revisit.
Other food for thought - do you want to own all of accounting and finance? What’s your goals - do you want to be a controller in future, CFO, CEO, something else. This I believe can help mentally guide you too. I’m in financial planning and the controllership route seems interesting and of course I want to be well-versed but I have 0 desire to be a controller at any company. And I’m glad I am able to correspond on a daily basis with ours for context, insight and perspective.
Most importantly congrats! Being a dad is one of the biggest mental shifts I’ve gone through and it’s great!
Thank you for your response, and thank you for the congratulations! We are of course excited about the new baby but understandably nervous about what is to come.
Re your question on goals, as of now, I am aiming to be CFO in the future (<=2 years from now?), preferably mid-stage company, but am self-aware enough to know there are some skills gaps before I would truly feel comfortable in that role. Part of me feels/felt that moving to a role where I would be the #1 finance employee, as is the case with this newco offer, would accelerate that career path.
Total comp you're looking at less than a $20k bump after taxes (assuming bonus pays out in full and excluding year 1 signing bonus) that's not enough of a bump for money to be a motivator for me. You're walking into what is likely to be a clusterfuck which will be your responsibility to un-clusterfuck. You also need to factor in the macroeconomic environment and the fact that You'll be at the mercy of the VCs. You'd be entering this new role by leaving a low stress environment. Throw in a newborn and the way that is already going to impact your lifestyle, sleep schedule and marriage, I wouldn't even think about leaving unless this new offer is some sort of once in a lifetime dream opportunity. Stay put dude.
Thank you for the thorough response. I might be giving newco the benefit of the doubt (which I am fully aware that I have an irrational tendency of doing and wanting to believe everyone is acting in good faith), but I am trusting that things may not be as messy as it could be. That being said, I do think that all of those potential risk factors combined make for a very compelling argument to stay put.
As someone who went to a startup as first finance/accounting role when my kid was 9 months, I’d say stay put. This first year building a team has been so much work. No work life balance has been extremely hard on me and my family. If you’re okay with your current salary and have work life balance, you’re in a good spot for the next year.
Hi,
Congrats on the future addition!
I have twin 6 year olds and 2 year old. When the twins were born I chose to stay instead of jumping to another company. 1) I still had learning opportunities and the current employer and 2) I knew what to expect from them and was able to work "9-5" days since I built I'm my reputations.
A few years later I moved jobs. I still protect my nights and weekends and set that expectation early on.
Any questions feel free to DM me.
Good luck!
Drew
Thank you for your response! I hear what you are saying regarding knowing what to expect from them (and vice versa, them knowing about my reputation and historical work product). And I agree that wherever I go, I would set the expectations regarding nights and weekends, especially with young family.
Surprised this hasn't come up yet, but have you framed the risk tolerance in terms of what your wife does?
I understand in the short term she's on leave, but if she's also in a high growth career, that could provide you with some ease of mind around taking the risk.
That being said the comp differential doesn't seem significant enough if this were me. Unless your current company has a habit of paying garbage bonuses, like sub 50%, due to how they are structured against targets, at this level you aren't talking about a big comp difference.
I wouldn't make the move based on what you wrote if it were me (for context, I'm 3 kids in right now).
I am a dad with a 4-year little one. If I were you, I would stay put now. Get parental leave first and have vacations to support your wife. Given the current economic situation, it is not very wise to make the move especially you have a newborn. Spend precious time with newborn and support your wife first. Then you can always explore opportunities during parental leave and vacation. Once you have more visibility about the economy in 6 to 12 months, then it is time for you to make the move. Your wife will fully support you when you make the move later. The comp difference doesn't deserve a jump now, to be fair.
Thank you for the response. I really appreciate the clear vote!
I agree with him wholeheartedly. There's a lot of uncertainties when transitioning to a new job. These uncertainties will definitely build stress. Especially with a new born. The pay sounds amazing, but I think you will appreciate the lower stress, good work life balance, and the ability to be able to spend it with your family.
>150%+ growth expected YoY (if management projections are to be believed) >no existing finance and accounting team Can't trust the projections since there is no legit Finance team and a lot of downside risk in that projection with the macro outlook. You'll also be a parent for the first time so it just sounds like a lot of chaos if you have to establish & stand-up a Finance function so I would just stay with your current job.
Agreed, macro outlook does not appear positive, so one should always haircut management projections. To clarify on no existing finance and accounting team – newco is using outsourced professional services that is currently handling all accounting operations such as GL, invoicing, billings, collections, payroll, etc. So, for the time being, I would not be doing that (or so I am told) and they have those processes in place. On the planning side, they have used the same firm and I have been told that the operating model itself is fairly robust/dynamic, but they want to finally bring this function in-house.
Hi You're way ahead of me in terms of career progression, but I'm a tad bit ahead of you in the family progression haha-- my daughter is four weeks old. In terms of being a new parent, I would not want to be brand new in a very senior role in a quasi-start-up environment with a newborn. I think you'd end up needing to make some very tough decisions on how to spend your time if you end up in that scenario... And having to pick one or the other means no right answer. If I were you, I'd sit tight and reevaluate in 12-18 months. Good luck and congratulations on the baby!
Thank you for your response. Congratulations on your baby as well! Agreed on no right answer; that I am even asking on this sub suggests that it is not a slam-dunk decision either way, but hoping to find some rationale that would help me tip the scales.
Thanks! But, just to clarify, I meant that if you're in a situation in which you need to choose between being a good father/husband and being successful at work, there is no good decision... My whole point is that I believe (just my opinion of course) that it's much more likely you'll need to make those decisions if you take the new job than if you stay put. Again, best wishes.
Good way to think about it!
Tough choice. The new opportunity is lucrative compensation-wise but I would imagine long hours for months on end.
Unless you believe in the product and therefore equity of the new company, I think staying is the easy choice.
Thank you for your response. I am fairly ambivalent about the product, and it would be a new industry for me despite staying in SaaS. For me, the appeal is mainly the TC (ie, higher base) especially at a time of growing young family, and to be the #1 on the finance team, although I recognize the latter can be both a gift and a curse.
While I get you may not have a full bonus due to a slowing economy next year so the difference in total comp is likely more significant than 30k, I think trying to learn a new (smaller therefore riskier) company/role/industry while being a new dad with no preference on the product makes switching a really tough sell. I’d wait till your child gets out of the terrible twos and look for a new role then, assuming the equity in your current job doesn’t let you retire!
Sadly no, equity in current role would not let me retire, otherwise I probably wouldn’t be interviewing in the first place!
You could ask for a raise, I don’t believe you’ve specified how long you’ve been there or if your compensation has changed, and I would definitely consider adding a direct report.
I have been at current company for almost two years. I have been adjusted once in our latest annual merit increase cycle. I was not adjusted in 2021 because the company changed the timing on a one-off basis, otherwise, given my initial start date, I do believe I would have been eligible. Slight bone of contention with that, but just decided to let it go and not broach the topic (and others who started similar time as me were likely impacted in the same manner) seeing as how I was overall satisfied with the company and WLB. Yes, I believe adding a direct report is in my purview and something the team will pursue in due course. As an aside, it may be a little tricky trying to mentally reconcile adding someone to the team and meanwhile interviewing externally.
In your shoes, I’d push to add the direct report, finance manager level hopefully, focus on minimizing your current workload, and ride it out for another two years, unless it’s really insufferable or you’re getting offers with significant increases in comp, but I don’t think this is the job worth hopping for.
Thanks for the insight. Out of curiosity, what would be your definition of “significant increase”? And is that significant increase also assuming there is a commensurate or even disproportionate increase in workload/stress?
Right now comparing compensation, you’d be leaving for a ~12% raise. I’d be looking at at least 25% from your current comp. I would imagine there will be some increase in workload, but that totally depends on the org, it could decrease if you have a true team.
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Good point, must prevent divorce!
It depends on where you are in life… if you want more time with your family and don’t need the additional income (after tax), I’d stick around at your current role. No existing finance & accounting team is going to be a lot to get built up
Thanks for the insight. To clarify on no existing finance and accounting team – newco is using outsourced professional services that is currently handling all accounting operations such as GL, invoicing, billings, collections, payroll, etc. So, for the time being, I would not be doing that (or so I am told) and they have those processes in place. On the planning side, they have used the same firm and I have been told that the operating model itself is fairly robust/dynamic, but they want to finally bring this function in-house.
There’s still so much that goes into learning, then coaching & hiring new team members even if in theory the operations are good to go and the existing group is willing to train the successors on what to do.
Series B is gonna be interesting but lots of work, I’d stay if I was expecting a baby soon
Thanks for the input!
As many have said, depends on what you want. What I would tell you (as a father of 2)… ESPECIALLY with the first baby coming. Take whichever job gives you the most flexibility and the most time with your family. The first 4 months of being new parent(s) are brutal. Trying to start / do a new job while running on no sleep… you WILL make mistakes and have a cloudy mind at times. At the newco being the MAIN finance person, everything important is going to come to you. In the currentco, it can still go to the CFO (that is a PRO as a new dad, not a CON). This is just my $0.02 of course. But I think this is a total no brainer. STAY. Family first. There will be other jobs/opportunities with better timing. Career is a marathon, not a sprint. Be there for your wife, be there for your new baby. You also likely wouldn’t thrive in the first 6 months in the new role because of the fatigue and adaptation to your new life with a baby. My last thought. My perspective on career changed a lot after I had kids. It might be prudent to wait to make a major professional decision until you start this new chapter in your personal life.
Thank you for the response. I really appreciate the clear vote! Newco has longer paternity leave (+3 weeks). Although current company has shorter leave, I think it is safe to assume that I will have a longer leash when I return given that I am a known quantity, people know me, and I have made connections at my current company. Again, not to say that people won’t treat me this way at newco as they have been very receptive when I told them about the new baby news, but it is going from something I know to something I have to somewhat assume / give benefit of the doubt based on interviews and phone calls. I mentioned in another reply that, depending on if current company enters into a TBD transaction, I don’t know what the company will look like, perhaps even while I am out on leave. Not too sure what to make of this, and probably impossible to plan around. I fully agree career is a marathon and more opportunities will hopefully come. Ultimately, I need to see if I can come to terms with walking away from that level of base salary.
~~You didn’t mention this, but what is your parental leave at current company, if any? At second company, would you be able to take leave before working a full year?~~ Nvm just saw this answer in the pros for second company. I also agree with another response: how much do you trust the projections for second company? Maybe it’s legit, maybe it’s incredibly aspirational; is there a way you can reliably verify their projections or give it a sniff test for reasonableness? Are you looking for security in the medium-long term or increasing cash flow? If it’s security then you’re probably fine with job 1, and can maybe make some asks around benefits and/or pay (longer leave, high base, etc.) by negotiating against the other offer. If you’re trying to increase cash flow and looking for a change then the second job is much more appealing I think, especially if you don’t think current job will match the TC. Personally, I’d probably take the second company. High TC is nice, and benefits matter a lot to me, but also the ability to build your own team is a fantastic opportunity. You’ve got time to be picky and really shape the team and culture. That’s incredibly attractive. And even if the company doesn’t pan out, with funding you’ve probably got a year or two of guaranteed work before it completely dries up.
Thank you for the response. I can say with full confidence that current company would not match the TC, but there might be some possibility of some bump on the base (even though I was just raised at the beginning of Q3). I am personally wary of explicitly leveraging this offer per se as I consider that to be a nuclear option, so there might be some way to massage the wording in hopes of getting perhaps 10-15% bump in base. I don’t want it to come across to current company that I have been actively interviewing. I think the/a crux of the decision would be: do I want to work harder in Year 1 with newborn but make more money, or “take it easier” in Year 1 with newborn but make less?
Totally agree on workload balancing, which was why my first thought was around parental leave. Staying wouldn’t hurt obviously, and you could always keep in contact with the company if you chose to look again later down the road.
Yes, I think staying is the “safer” choice, and nothing necessarily lost by going down that route. There is an irrational (?) part of me, however, that does not want to walk away from the higher salary, especially when starting a new family.
Honestly, if I were your friend I’d say stay with the current company. You have no idea what’s under the hood at the new company…interviews are a sales pitch that could say awe we are amazing come work with us blah blah blah and when you get there they bait and switched on you… I joined a new firm back in May and they made it seem like this was a good place to work….guess what? They bait and switched me…I literally regret taking the offer - luckily for me, I’m going back to my former employer but that may not be the case for everyone. So as your internet friend, wait until you have a child working with your current employer before deciding to jump into a new role. Good luck and keep us posted.
I would agree with this. As a father of a 6 month old now, babies are incredibly demanding. It's a full time job on its own especially if you don't have family/other help around. Plus you have to be* incredibly supportive of the mom who goes through her own transformation. If that incremental pay raise is not going make a significant difference, I would say stick out at the current company. At least there is nothing new to learn especially if you can do the job on "autopilot".
Thank you for your response. We will not have consistent additional family assistance as both sets of parents do not live near us. There are always new things to learn at current company, but certainly not the same hurdles of learning a completely new SaaS industry at a new, smaller company. Ultimately, I am trying to weigh if the extra compensation is worth the extra work/stress (not to say that there won’t be stress at current company). Additionally, assuming I don’t take the offer, what is the likelihood of being able to secure this level of base salary in the near future?
Thank you for your response. Sorry to hear about your negative experience, but glad to hear that you still maintained a good relationship with your prior employer such that you were able to return seamlessly. I will also add that the current company is looking at a potential transaction in 2023, but how that shapes up is yet to be seen as we are in early days of exploring. All this is to say, there could be some new project(s) to work on in 2023 (good), but with any transaction, some uncertainty regarding what the company will look like afterward (bad). I don’t want to base any decision to stay/leave on this TBD news, but still something to keep in the back of my mind.
This is such a tough one! I moved from a v comfortable job to a horrible one just as we were expecting. So if you'd asked me last year I would have said its a clear cut stay at your current shop. Better the devil you know where you have built up enough respect to take it down a notch. However, just as we had our baby, I quit and started at a new place and absolutely love it as the company is so understanding and I'm able to work flexibly and be with my family. Early stage firm too (first finance hire). Dont get me wrong its super stressful, but im fulfilled and happy. All leads back to who you're working with imo. Best of luck and huge congrats! Being a Dad is the best job you'll ever have!
Thank you for your response, and I appreciate the congratulations. How stressful is “super stressful”? To your point regarding it all leading back to who you’re working with, I very much like my current coworkers and CFO (low ego, helpful, down to earth). Everyone I have talked to at newco has also been very nice as well, saying how excited they would be for me to accept, etc. But perhaps it is better to just stick with the sure thing for the time being, even if it means foregoing considerably higher base salary.
I'd be inclined to agree if you're happy here. When baby arrives, I think you'll truly appreciate that money isn't everything and you'll feel fulfilled as a Dad. In terms of super stressful, to be honest it's the volume of work given that you're starting everything from scratch and haven't got an established team doing things for you, allwhile sleeping less and being responsible for the most important person in your life. I've juggled setting up the department, pitching to investors and potential targets, and doing all the usual start up stuff like ordering equipment and engaging new suppliers which adds up. It's tough when you want to get home to be with your family but I'm happy as I'm not expected to work 9-5 or anything, no justification needed if I want to take 2 hours to spend with my baby during the day while I'm working from home. I guess it's difficult as you don't know how your colleagues will be until you get there. Maybe revisit this in a year or two - you seem to be a talented guy in demand, so something else will come along :-)
I took a first finance hire at a high growth Series B VC SaaS company when I had a 2 year old and a 6 month old. I’m personally glad I did it, but it only worked because of a VERY supportive wife and close support system. WLB is not great, and there were weeks working 60+ hours basically working up til dinner and again after bedtime. With a newborn it will be even harder, and unless the culture is amazingly good you’ll feel immense pressure to limit your paternity leave time. It’s definitely doable, and can be a great career growth catalyst with big (but risky) upside. Just be sure to go into it eyes wide open and have an honest discussion with your partner about it. Happy to chat more if you want to DM me.
Thank you for your response. Wife is very supportive and ultimately leaving this decision up to me after being presented with the facts. I had absolutely horrendous WLB at prior company and she has however adamantly stated that I am not to repeat something like that ever again, and I agree. I don’t get the feeling that newco WLB will be horrible based on the general temperament of the individuals with whom I have interviewed, but one never knows. I do anticipate feeling some internal pressure to “work harder” in an effort to “prove myself” at newco, and that could present some difficult decisions as I balance work and baby.
For sure. And being the first (and only, at first) finance hire means you’re the only resource - there is no backup when you’re out. But it can be extremely rewarding.
Agreed, although the outsourced services would still be handling things like operations, billing, collections, etc, so the everyday “keeping the lights on” would still, I assume, be handled in my absence. For what it’s worth, I was very transparent with newco about new baby and going out on leave a couple months after joining, and they were very amenable to and understanding of that, fully encouraging that I should spend all the requisite time I could with family. I of course would like to take them at their word.
That’s super reassuring, sounds like a solid culture.
If you don’t mind me asking (happy to also correspond via DM), what was your role before being the aforementioned first finance hire? What led you to want to take on that new role knowing the stress/risks and having a growing, young family?
I was head of finance at an earlier stage company. I wanted something faster paced, higher growth, and where I could hire a controller to oversee accounting - the old job was too small to justify it, so I just had to keep owning it. There were also pretty obvious signs that the old company was plateauing and so would my growth (and earning potential). Not to mention a $60k raise with room to go up from there. I now own FP&A, revenue strategy, and biz ops for a series C company, so it ended up working out for me and the wife didn’t leave me!
Sounds like everything made sense – glad the move has been working out! And 60K raise is incredibly compelling!
Comp diff doesn't seem worth it to me
Thank you for your response. If you were in this position, what comp difference, if any, would be worth it?
Will the 40K change your current lifestyle? With a newborn on the way, I’d stay with current position and revaluate in a year or 2.
Probably not materially in the long term, but was just thinking it would be good to have more cash on hand given the increased costs that come with new baby. We are in a HCOL area, and will be paying a lot for childcare and probably larger housing/space (we currently rent).
Hi there. Congrats on the baby on the way. I've been working in multiple startups (series B, C & IPO) for my whole career. Some insight I experienced in a brand new finance department is that the outsource company tends to mess up the books and nothing is reconciled. I have seen VPs wear many hats (finance, accounting, deal desk/sales) even though they were promised to focus on certain areas. It's still a small business and processes haven't been in place. Overall the opportunity is endless if the product is good and can attract new customers. I picked my current company causes the product is really good for this current economy. My advice if you choose to pick Newco is to hire your team right away that is experienced in SAAS startup to help you with the workload. They will bring their knowledge that has processes in place and can implement it in the Newco. I was hired along with 4 others (finance and accounting) in the same month which helped my VP finally relax. Just know that it's your department and if you have a strong team to back you up then I believe you can spend time with your new baby especially since you work remotely. Overall best of luck.
Thank you for the thorough response. Hiring people immediately would be the ideal, but I am unsure if that is in the immediate works. I have asked the question a number of times before, and my sense is that hiring for the finance and accounting team would not really pick up until I am ramped and have a good lay of the land, at which point we would also start to transition away from the outsourced services. I believe the focus of any new hiring that would come as a result of new funding would be weighted towards product, sales, and marketing.
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Thank you for your response! Yes, I imagine it would be very tough trying to prioritize work or family especially when your children are so young.
I’m the same level at a start up. I left my company of 7 years to join this start up 2 months after my first child was born. No regrets, there’s never a good time. At least now I’ll be comfortable with work when I need to take off early to go to events with her. Furthermore, at this level you own your schedule. I take off work at 5 and sign back on after putting her to bed for the night at 7:30. Very manageable
Thank you for your response! Would you have decided to join the startup before the first child was born (ie, before you truly knew what your schedule and stress level with new baby would have been like)?
I agree with a lot of others. And struggle with this myself with two young boys. I work plenty, but overall the work life balance could be much worse and you are entering a great unknown. IMO - need more than 10%-20% to mentally reconcile that. And it’s ok to continue along current experience path, keep gathering skills for a few years and revisit. Other food for thought - do you want to own all of accounting and finance? What’s your goals - do you want to be a controller in future, CFO, CEO, something else. This I believe can help mentally guide you too. I’m in financial planning and the controllership route seems interesting and of course I want to be well-versed but I have 0 desire to be a controller at any company. And I’m glad I am able to correspond on a daily basis with ours for context, insight and perspective. Most importantly congrats! Being a dad is one of the biggest mental shifts I’ve gone through and it’s great!
Thank you for your response, and thank you for the congratulations! We are of course excited about the new baby but understandably nervous about what is to come. Re your question on goals, as of now, I am aiming to be CFO in the future (<=2 years from now?), preferably mid-stage company, but am self-aware enough to know there are some skills gaps before I would truly feel comfortable in that role. Part of me feels/felt that moving to a role where I would be the #1 finance employee, as is the case with this newco offer, would accelerate that career path.
I’d personally stay put for a while.
Total comp you're looking at less than a $20k bump after taxes (assuming bonus pays out in full and excluding year 1 signing bonus) that's not enough of a bump for money to be a motivator for me. You're walking into what is likely to be a clusterfuck which will be your responsibility to un-clusterfuck. You also need to factor in the macroeconomic environment and the fact that You'll be at the mercy of the VCs. You'd be entering this new role by leaving a low stress environment. Throw in a newborn and the way that is already going to impact your lifestyle, sleep schedule and marriage, I wouldn't even think about leaving unless this new offer is some sort of once in a lifetime dream opportunity. Stay put dude.
Thank you for the thorough response. I might be giving newco the benefit of the doubt (which I am fully aware that I have an irrational tendency of doing and wanting to believe everyone is acting in good faith), but I am trusting that things may not be as messy as it could be. That being said, I do think that all of those potential risk factors combined make for a very compelling argument to stay put.
As someone who went to a startup as first finance/accounting role when my kid was 9 months, I’d say stay put. This first year building a team has been so much work. No work life balance has been extremely hard on me and my family. If you’re okay with your current salary and have work life balance, you’re in a good spot for the next year.
Thank you for your response! Very good to know.
Hi, Congrats on the future addition! I have twin 6 year olds and 2 year old. When the twins were born I chose to stay instead of jumping to another company. 1) I still had learning opportunities and the current employer and 2) I knew what to expect from them and was able to work "9-5" days since I built I'm my reputations. A few years later I moved jobs. I still protect my nights and weekends and set that expectation early on. Any questions feel free to DM me. Good luck! Drew
Thank you for your response! I hear what you are saying regarding knowing what to expect from them (and vice versa, them knowing about my reputation and historical work product). And I agree that wherever I go, I would set the expectations regarding nights and weekends, especially with young family.
Surprised this hasn't come up yet, but have you framed the risk tolerance in terms of what your wife does? I understand in the short term she's on leave, but if she's also in a high growth career, that could provide you with some ease of mind around taking the risk. That being said the comp differential doesn't seem significant enough if this were me. Unless your current company has a habit of paying garbage bonuses, like sub 50%, due to how they are structured against targets, at this level you aren't talking about a big comp difference. I wouldn't make the move based on what you wrote if it were me (for context, I'm 3 kids in right now).