QT offer without base salary

I've received an offer from a lesser known HFT prop trading firm with a nice pnl split percentage but no base salary and they aren't willing to negotiate it. This is the first time I've received an offer (or even heard of one) that does not come with any base comp. Is this common for deals involving pnl splits in prop trading? It sounds like a red flag for a firm not to be able to pay out 150-200K in base if they are willing and able to fund several million dollars into onboarding a new trader.

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I don't think this is common but I am not sure that 150-200k base would be common either in this situation. I'm not an expert in employment law and don't know what jurisdiction this is but for typical employment contracts I would assume paying at least some salary is legally required even if it's just a draw against your pnl split. If the offer is for you to use their trading system as a platform while keeping your code and IP instead of being a traditional employee then it makes more sense to not get a base salary.

 

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