1.
How we replaced Salary Negotiations
With a Sinatra App
Konstantin Haase
@konstantinhaase / @rkh_popcorn
Travis CI
travis-ci.com

2.
(Most of the) Slides in English, talk
auf Deutsch.
It’s better than an unverständliches Mischmasch.

3.
During this talk, I’ll tell you
how much you could make
working at Travis CI.
Not including other compensation besides base salary, and only for employees
working in Düsseldorf, but feel free to approach me later if you’d like to hear other
numbers.

4.
There will be code.
I promise.

5.
Salaries

6.
What’s in a salary?

7.
$1,000,000 per episode $100,000 per episode
10x actor?

8.
10x developer?

9.
“Why are the best programmers
10x more productive than
mediocre programmers, but paid
only 3x as much?”

10.
“How do bootstrapped
companies hire talent?”

11.
‣ bootstrapped
‣ 38 employees
‣ top talent
‣ base in Berlin, Germany
Travis CI

12.
‣ 9 countries, 16 nationalities
‣ 53% women (50% in engineering)
‣ wide range of backgrounds
‣ we’ll keep hiring
Travis CI

13.
Salaries account for 46% of
our spendings, making it the
biggest cost centre.

14.
We don’t negotiate
salaries.

15.
A Sinatra application tells us what
to pay someone.

16.
Negotiation skills don’t
reflect your value to the
company.

17.
Negotiation skills
don’t reflect your
financial needs.

18.
Salary negotiations harm
underrepresented
groups.

19.
Source: Fortune Magazine

20.
Source:StatistischesBundesamt

21.
Diversity is not a checkbox.
It is more than just how many women or people
of color work at your company.

22.
Diversity is not charity.
It is about building
the best team possible.

23.
The Travis CI Salary
Framework™

24.
Developing the “Framework”
took a full year.
Everyone could participate.

25.
We pay by value.
We pay by needs.
We use generalised rules
that apply to everyone.

26.
Value = Level
Level + Location = Salary

27.
Level 7
Level 8
Level 9
Level 10
Level 11
IS level
SHOULD level

28.
Level 7
Level 8
Level 9
Level 10
Level 11
IS level SHOULD level

29.
Level 7
Level 8
Level 9
Level 10
Level 11
IS level
SHOULD level

30.
Value

31.
How do you define a 10x
developer (if they exist)?

32.
Example:
Software Engineer — Level 10

33.
Shows an intuitive grasp of
situations, analytic approach
used only in novel situations.

34.
Is self-motivated to the point that they
create new work (for themselves and
sometimes others) and has their own
vision for what needs to be done.

35.
Understands business requirements.
Does not just understand but also shape
the big picture.

36.
Engineering Career Path defined
up to level 17 at the moment.

37.
Employees should level up about
once a year.

38.
If an employee doesn’t get a raise,
that’s considered a bug, not a
feature.

39.
Needs

40.
We use a generalised “needs” model
based on location.

41.
www.economist.com/content/big-mac-index

42.
www.numbeo.com

43.
rkh.im/move

44.
What are living costs?

45.
Consumer Price Index
Consumer Price and Rent Index

46.
Long term living costs can differ
even if CPI/CPRI is the same.
These differences are usually the
greatest between countries.

47.
Paying more for having children or a
debt is complex and discriminates
life choices.

48.
glassdoor.com

49.
payscale.com

50.
Only compare data points from the
same source.

51.
Country base line based on how market rates*
compare to Berlin.
City adjustments based on how the living costs
compared to national average.
Income tax estimation is added on top.
* Factor adjusted upwards for low income countries, for city states Consumer Prices and Rent Index will be used if higher

52.
http://open.buffer.com/transparent-salaries

53.
Rates calculated for 3563 cities
in 209 countries
Four countries also have 92 regions.

54.
youtube.com/user/CGPGrey

55.
© Lincoln Stoll

56.
Everyone can participate in the
salary discussion.

57.
What’s important:
Competitive, Comfortable,
Fair, Feasible, Prospective

58.
Thank you!
Konstantin Haase
@konstantinhaase / @rkh_popcorn
Travis CI
travis-ci.com