Co-Ed Naked Call Writing

[DanS]

Originally posted by One_more_turn
When this bear market is finally over, foreign stocks will suffer the most devastation because that's where the hot money went to.

That's certainly where my hot money went to!

It's got quite a fall yet to go, if it is to retrace its steps. It's only 30% off its highs.

[DanS]

Re: We all know

Originally posted by pchang
the 5% drop was due to some rogue French trader...

Yeh, that one seems awful fishy to me.

According to the French prosecutor, on January 18, mid-day, his real trades were still profitable.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4e4223f8-cd9d-11dc-9e4e-000077b07658.html

I wonder what happened with all of those exotic derivatives that the bank was writing...

[chequita guevara]

I'm going to get a job offer tonight. They offered me $60K a week ago and I countered with a range from $69K to $93K, which is what the middle 50% of senior web designers report earning in South Florida. They walked away. They want to meet me tonight to make a new offer, and I expect it will be around $75K.

So why am I not thrilled at the prospect? I'm actually filled with dread. Someone (several someone's actually) handed an 18-year old kid a million dollars because he's going to build a YouTube / MySpace / Blogspot hybrid . . . oh wait, that's MySpace (but ours will be more user friendly). By accepting this money I'm accepting partial responsibility for this project. My gut feeling is this project will fail due to unrealistic expectations.

This is a huge undertaking, and I'm going to be a combo Sr. web designer / business analyst. I'm the one who has to think up not merely the design and layout of the site, but all the usability, accessibility, and marketing stuff, with an 18 year old business student at NYU (while I'm in South Florida). There's there's all the legal crap that needs to be considered. Oy.

But I won't have the title of project manager, because the head PHP developer who started three weeks ago gets that title. Title doesn't bother me so much, though it would be nice to put on the resume.

Sigh!

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
I'm going to get a job offer tonight. They offered me $60K a week ago and I countered with a range from $69K to $93K, which is what the middle 50% of senior web designers report earning in South Florida. They walked away. They want to meet me tonight to make a new offer, and I expect it will be around $75K.

So why am I not thrilled at the prospect? I'm actually filled with dread. Someone (several someone's actually) handed an 18-year old kid a million dollars because he's going to build a YouTube / MySpace / Blogspot hybrid . . . oh wait, that's MySpace (but ours will be more user friendly). By accepting this money I'm accepting partial responsibility for this project. My gut feeling is this project will fail due to unrealistic expectations.

This is a huge undertaking, and I'm going to be a combo Sr. web designer / business analyst. I'm the one who has to think up not merely the design and layout of the site, but all the usability, accessibility, and marketing stuff, with an 18 year old business student at NYU (while I'm in South Florida). There's there's all the legal crap that needs to be considered. Oy.

But I won't have the title of project manager, because the head PHP developer who started three weeks ago gets that title. Title doesn't bother me so much, though it would be nice to put on the resume.

Sigh!

Well, what about the 75 freakin K dude?

[chequita guevara]

meh

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
meh

Well, we have to eat beans and rice until I get paid. So if you have any extra think about the children.

[chequita guevara]

I know it's a lot of money, but it just isn't doing it for me. Like I wrote, I should be thrilled. Well, it may be premature, maybe they'll counter with $65K.

[DanS]

How long do you figure the million will last? How many are they hiring?

Have you ever been part of a start-up?

[pchang]

I don't really see

a downside in accepting an offer from a start up if you currently do not have employment. You can still look for a better job in your spare time. If the start up fails, you at least have the money you were paid and there is no minus from a job hunting perspective. Everyone knows start ups fail all the time. No one will think you lost your job because you were lousy at it. No one will think you are a job hopper because start ups are notoriously unstable. No one will blame you for wanting to leave a start up for a stable company while you are still employed at the start up.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by DanS
How long do you figure the million will last? How many are they hiring?

Have you ever been part of a start-up?

I've been in a start-up before, which may explain part of my apprehension. Everything was running along smooth, we were even making a profit, then we were shut down because the market tanked and the majority shareholders weren't going to be able to get a internet bubble payday.

I spoke with the COO ("dad") about my concerns and that I wouldn't in good conscience be able to take the money, which impressed him, and then he clarified their business plan and I feel a lot better about the situation.

$75K + 0.25% ownership vested over 3 years (something called restricted units), no bennies. All I need to do is get my cobra squared away. I still haven't received that info yet.

I had hoped to have February off to spend time learning new software skills. Ah well.

pchang, what was really troubling me is that I felt like I would be taking advantage of someone with more money than sense, even if I'm worth the money and he wants to work my ass off.

[Zkribbler]

che -
Are you anxious about having the company collapse and leaving you with no income or are you worried about losing the $1M? If the latter, don't worry.

Anyone who gives a kid $1M to play with doesn't really expect to get it back. The investor is either: (a) a friend/relative of the NYU kid and is giving him a leg up or (b) is swinging for the fences, e.g. he's almost sure the kid will lose the $1M, but if this thing hits, it'll return many, many multiples of the investment.

[chequita guevara]

I already have no income other than unemployment.

I just felt like I was taking the kid's money when the I felt he didn't have a clue. They did not explain things well to me the first two meetings. I have a much better picture of the situation and feel much better and that I'm not taking advantage of him.

[DanS]

What's their exit?

[chequita guevara]

Initially I understood that they expected to be making a profit within six months. They'd like to be, but they aren't going to shut down if they aren't.

[DanS]

Well, you probably know what you're getting into, both good and bad.

The no bennies part sucks -- but sometimes a start-up doesn't have the staff at the beginning to set that stuff up and manage it. I would take a close look at the vesting conditions for your piece of the pie.

If you take the job, good luck!