Field notes for the operator.
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Equity Refresh Language — The Clause Most Offer Letters Leave Out
Your grant vests in four years. Your job doesn't. Here's how to get refresh language in writing before you sign.
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The Discretionary Bonus Trap And How To Defuse It
A discretionary bonus is a promise you cannot cash. Here is how to negotiate the trap out of your offer before you sign.
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What To Do When Your Offer Is Below Market
The offer letter is a starting bid, not a verdict. Here's how to move it.
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How to Negotiate a Customer Success Manager Salary in 2026
The data, the counter, and the script for the call.
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How to Negotiate a Solutions Engineer Salary in 2026
The counter math, the market data, and the exact moves for SE offers this year.
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How to Negotiate a Senior Product Designer Salary in 2026
The counter-offer math, the company-side reality, and the script that closes the gap between $160K and $280K.
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How to Negotiate a Marketing Manager Salary in 2026
The federal floor, the AI premium, and the exact counter that closes the gap.
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How to Negotiate a Senior Account Executive Salary in 2026
The exact counter range, the OTE math, and the script for the call.
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The Best Offer Comparison Tool Isn't a Spreadsheet
Why most candidates lose money comparing offers wrong — and the loadout that fixes it.
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Total Comp Explained — Base, Bonus, Equity, and the Numbers Recruiters Skip
The recruiter quotes you a salary. Total comp is a different number — and they're counting on you not to know the difference.
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Equity vs Cash Salary — When to Take the Stock and When to Take the Money
A blunt framework for deciding whether the equity in your offer is worth the cash you're leaving on the table.
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What Funding Stage Tells You About Negotiation Leverage
Seed, Series A, Series B, growth — each stage has a different cash budget, a different equity ceiling, and a different pressure point. Read the round, work the lever.
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How to Time a Job Switch — The Compounding Gap Math
The switcher premium just hit a seven-year low. Here's when to move, when to stay, and how to do the math on your own offer.
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The Cost of Staying — The Three-Year Salary Trajectory Most People Miss
Your 3.4% raise looks fine on paper. Run it out three years and the math gets ugly.
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Signing Bonus Benchmarks 2026 — What To Actually Ask For
The 2026 sign-on ranges by tier, the math behind the ask, and the three sentences that get you the bigger number.
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How to Negotiate a Data Engineer Salary in 2026
The market is colder than 2022. Your counter still works — if you anchor it right.
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How to Negotiate an Engineering Manager Salary in 2026
The counter-offer math, the market anchors, and the script for the hardest conversation in your career.
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How to Negotiate an Account Executive Salary in 2026
The counter-offer playbook for AEs — what the market actually pays, what to ask for, and where the leverage hides.
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How to Negotiate Your Product Manager Salary in 2026
The market shifted. Cash got tighter. Your counter still works — if you anchor it to the right numbers and run the right script.
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How to Negotiate a Data Scientist Salary in 2026
The market split in two. Here's how to figure out which side you're on, then counter accordingly.
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How to Negotiate a Senior PM Salary in 2026
The market moved 2%. Your counter shouldn't. Here's the script, the numbers, and the read on the room.
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How to Negotiate a Senior Software Engineer Salary in 2026
The market is split. Your counter has to know which side it's on.
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When to Ask for a Raise — The Timing Math Most People Get Wrong
The 3.5% merit pool is a trap. Here's the calendar window, the trigger events, and the number that actually moves.
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What Your Market Value Actually Means (And How to Prove It)
Market value isn't a number on a salary site. It's what a specific employer will pay you, right now, with receipts on the table.
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How to Negotiate a Software Engineer Salary in 2026
The playbook for countering a 2026 offer when base budgets are tight, equity is the real lever, and the company across the table is watching its burn.
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Red Flags in an Offer Letter: The 12 Clauses Most People Miss
The offer letter is a contract. Most people skim it like a receipt. Here's what to read twice.
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How to Evaluate a Job Offer — The 12-Point Checklist
The base salary is one line on the offer letter. Twelve things determine what you actually take home, and most people never check eleven of them.
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What Amazon Pays Product Managers in 2026 — The Tier Breakdown
Real numbers by level, the RSU trap nobody warns you about, and what your counter should actually be.
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How to Read a Company's Hiring Temperature Before You Take the Offer
The public-record signals that tell you a company is about to cut — before the press release lands in your inbox.
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Is Meta Hiring or Laying Off in 2026? The Real Signals
Meta is cutting 8,000 jobs and freezing 6,000 more — while paying one engineer $1.5B. Here's what that means for your offer.
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What Is Google Actually Paying Software Engineers in 2026?
Level-by-level total comp, the layoff context behind the headline numbers, and how to use both at the table.
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Salary Negotiation Strategy — The 2026 Playbook
The market shifted. The script didn't. Here's the strategy that still works when unemployment is 4.3% and 16 states post the range before you ask.
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