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I have seen this exact situation maybe 4-5 times in my career so far and, since I keep tabs on folks, a grand total of one of those firms actually scaled into escape velocity. So call is 20-25% odds it works out from a business POV, and then then place the odds it personally works out for you somewhere inside of that. Start ups hire who they can not who they want, so you may not actually gel with the PM or have bad individual performance. 

 
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Formulaic pay: 20% of first $10mm in firm earnings, 10% of next $10mm in earnings 

5% equity as a floor on profits above and beyond with a reasonable vest and buyout clause (e.g. vest over 4 years, buyout at 3x earnings)

PM is unlikely to scale past $10mm in annual earnings for a long time so you would basically be a 20% partner, and forces PM to put money where their mouth is for scaling ambitions. 

Would still evaluate your market value carefully, being a senior analyst at a top pod is probably better than being a 100% partner in this venture. The best founders aren't giving a 20% GP stake for a 100m seed check. If you really can't find any solid opportunities outside, the step down structure in profit sharing is what aligns incentives. 

 

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