Pitching & Investors
How Founders Pitch Early Hires to Leave FAANG for Low Base + Equity
Competing with $400k Big Tech salary packages requires selling mission, autonomy, and asymmetric equity upside. The conversation script founders use to recruit top 1% talent.
Vishal VermaCTO & Co-Founder, Dehurdle
August 19, 20261 min read
The Friction
If you try to compete on cash compensation with Google or Meta, you will lose. You must offer what Big Tech cannot: complete technical autonomy and life-changing equity upside.
The Autonomy + Impact Pitch
Recommended script
"At a big tech company, you might be optimizing a button on a 15-year-old codebase with 4 layers of approvals. At [Company], you will architect [core system] from day one. You will own [X%] of the company. If we build what we set out to build, this is the career-defining sprint that sets you up for life."
The 2-Minute Practice Drill
2-Minute Spoken Practice
The 2-Minute Practice Drill
Practice your recruiting pitch in a Dehurdle simulation.
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