Both Kubera packages are defensible for an experienced senior/staff-caliber founding engineer, and neither is weak.[3][4][7]
The guaranteed base is market-strong: $200K–$205K sits near or above the center of current startup-engineering benchmarks and inside the upper half of comparable NYC founding-engineer postings.[7][9]
The equity is also credible for Kubera’s actual maturity: 0.35% is solid; 0.45% is strong.[1][3][4]
Recommended choice: Option 1 — $200K base + 0.45% equity if Brian can comfortably trade $5K of annual cash for startup upside.[3][4] Over four years, Option 1 gives up $20K of guaranteed gross salary and adds 0.10 percentage point of ownership. The purely nominal paper-value break-even is a $20M fully diluted company value—but this is not a cash break-even because private equity may remain illiquid, be diluted, sit behind preferred stock, require an exercise payment, and ultimately be worth zero.[11]
Negotiation shape: typical landing range $190K–$215K base + 0.25%–0.50%; defensible target $205K–$215K + 0.45%–0.60%; stretch anchor $220K–$230K + 0.60%–0.75%.[3][4][7]
For Kubera specifically, a clean ask would be $210K + 0.50%, with Option 1 as an attractive fallback.[1][2]
| Package | Guaranteed annual base | Four-year gross base if continuously employed | Market read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Option 1 | $200,000 | $800,000 | Strong |
| Option 2 | $205,000 | $820,000 | Slightly stronger cash; only $5K/year more |
This is salary, not “total compensation.” Bonuses, benefits, severance, and future raises are not specified in the proposal and should not be assumed.[2]
| Package | Stated equity | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Option 1 | 0.45% | +0.10 percentage point vs. Option 2 |
| Option 2 | 0.35% | — |
The percentage is meaningful only after confirming: fully diluted basis; exact share count and denominator; option versus restricted stock; strike price/409A value; four-year vesting and cliff; early-exercise availability; post-termination exercise window; acceleration; and whether the quoted percentage is before or after any imminent financing/pool refresh.[11] Kubera’s public posting describes a “Founding Engineer” role but publishes no compensation range, so the proposal itself—not the job advertisement—is the operative evidence.[2]
Gross implied stake value is simply assumed fully diluted company value × ownership percentage. It is not realizable proceeds and does not subtract the strike price, taxes, dilution, liquidation preferences, or transaction restrictions.[11]
| Assumed fully diluted company value | Option 1: 0.45% | Option 2: 0.35% | Incremental 0.10% |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10M | $45,000 | $35,000 | $10,000 |
| $25M | $112,500 | $87,500 | $25,000 |
| $50M | $225,000 | $175,000 | $50,000 |
| $100M | $450,000 | $350,000 | $100,000 |
Do not call these amounts compensation received. They are gross scenario outputs.[11] A financing amount is not a valuation, and no verified current Kubera fully diluted valuation was found.[1] Kubera says it raised a $6.5M seed round; that establishes stage and financing capacity, not the value of common stock.[1]
| Employer / role | Location | Public base | Public equity | Comparability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thera — Founding Engineer | NYC, in person | $100K–$250K | 0.01%–0.50% | Strong title/location match; YC S22, 15-person team; broad range.[3] |
| Voiceops — Founding AI Engineer | NYC | $200K–$250K | 0.10%–0.50% | Excellent NYC/seed comparator; AI specialization can command a premium.[4] |
| Quinn — Founding Computational Scientist | SF / US remote | $170K–$230K | 0.15%–0.30% | Useful remote data point, but specialist scientific role rather than product/full-stack.[5] |
| Fleetline — Founding Engineer | NYC, in office | $150K–$200K | “Offers equity,” percentage undisclosed | Strong stage/title/location comparator; top of base is exactly Kubera Option 1.[6] |
| Kubera — Founding Engineer | NYC / role marked remote by ATS; public description previously specified substantial NYC presence | Undisclosed | Undisclosed | Direct scope evidence, not a pay benchmark.[2] |
Read-through: Kubera’s $200K–$205K base clears Fleetline’s top, falls comfortably inside Thera’s range, sits at the bottom of Voiceops’ premium AI range, and sits near the midpoint of Quinn’s remote specialist range.[3][4][5]
Kubera’s 0.35%–0.45% sits near the upper part of the disclosed equity ranges above: above Quinn’s 0.30% ceiling and within Thera/Voiceops’ 0.50% ceiling.[3][4][5]
A current Built In NYC search produced 15 disclosed salary bands for broadly “founding” engineering roles after excluding an obvious $35K outlier. The observed medians were $160K for range floors, $250K for range ceilings, and $208K for range midpoints. Examples included Peerbound at $180K–$220K, Double Nickel at $190K–$220K, Zingage at $180K–$250K, Kintow at $140K–$200K, Ficus at $130K–$200K, and Fleetline at $150K–$200K.[7]
This cross-check supports a roughly $190K–$220K landing zone for an experienced candidate, but it is not a clean statistical market distribution.[7] It is a convenience sample from one aggregator, mixes seed startups with more mature employers, includes specialty/forward-deployed/design roles, omits jobs without disclosed pay, and reflects advertised ranges rather than accepted offers.[7]
Carta’s H1 2025 report placed the average new-hire salary for engineering at $189K across its startup data, tied with product for the highest-paid function. It also found that younger, $1M–$10M-valued startups were seeing the fastest AI/ML salary increases.[9] Carta’s earlier H1 2024 report similarly put product and engineering averages around $190K, using more than 500,000 compensation data points, and said NYC was the only metro where average compensation could equal the Bay Area.[10]
The latest Carta H2 2025 page reports that, across job functions, median initial IC equity grants rose nearly 11% over two years while median IC salary rose 6.4%. For AI/ML engineers, median initial grants rose 31% from January 2024 to February 2026; at startups valued $1M–$10M, median AI/ML grant size rose 64%.[8] This does not supply a founding-engineer percentage benchmark, but it argues against treating equity as an afterthought in a current AI-native early-stage offer.
An older Index Ventures handbook remains useful only for mechanics and historical context: seed-stage grants dilute over later rounds; exercise cost and tax reduce outcomes; and it illustrated a seed-stage hire initially receiving 1% before dilution. Its cash figures are dated and Europe-centered and should not set today’s NYC salary.[11]
“Founding engineer” is not a standardized level. It can mean first technical employee with cofounder-like risk, or an early but not first engineer joining after funding and product traction. Public material says Kubera raised a $6.5M seed and the current opening works within an existing organization; this is materially different from joining two founders pre-product and pre-funding.[1][2]
That maturity supports a higher cash salary and a smaller equity grant than a true employee #1 package.[1][2]
It makes 0.35%–0.45% more defensible than a reflexive 1% demand.[1][3][4]
Conversely, senior/staff expectations, healthcare/financial correctness, customer-facing ownership, AI-native execution, and recurring NYC presence support pressing toward the high end of Kubera’s range.[2]
Other comparability limits:
$190K–$215K base + 0.25%–0.50% equity. This is the best synthesis for a senior/staff-caliber founding engineer at a funded US seed startup with NYC exposure, not a formal percentile band.[3][4][7]
$205K–$215K + 0.45%–0.60%. A balanced ask is $210K + 0.50%.[3][4][7]
It is supported by the public NYC ranges while recognizing Kubera is funded and has an existing team rather than being raw pre-seed.[1][2]
$220K–$230K + 0.60%–0.75%. This is an anchor, not the expected close.[4][7] It is most defensible if the role truly carries staff-level architecture, customer ownership, hiring/culture formation, and on-call/operational responsibility without a cash bonus.[2]
Ask once for $210K base + 0.50% equity, framed as aligning senior/staff scope, NYC market, and long-term ownership. If Kubera will not move both levers, prioritize:
1. Option 1 at 0.45% over Option 2, assuming personal cash needs permit.
2. Written confirmation of the exact equity mechanics and fully diluted percentage.
3. A 12-month refresh/review commitment tied to scope and performance.
4. A longer post-termination exercise window or early-exercise right, if available.
5. Clarity on bonus, severance, acceleration, and the expected onsite/on-call burden.
The equity terms can change the decision more than another $5K of base.[11] Do not accept a percentage without the share count, denominator, strike price, vesting terms, and latest 409A context.[11]
Primary company stage and funding source.
Current Founding Engineer posting; compensation undisclosed.
NYC: $100K–$250K and 0.01%–0.50%.
NYC: $200K–$250K and 0.10%–0.50%.
SF/US remote: $170K–$230K and 0.15%–0.30%.
NYC: $150K–$200K plus equity.
Current disclosed NYC ranges used as a convenience-sample cross-check.
Latest salary/equity trend data, including updates through February 2026.
Engineering average new-hire salary and stage trends.
Large-sample startup compensation and geography benchmark.
Historical equity mechanics and dilution context; not used as a current NYC cash benchmark.