Ask HN: Can I expect extra compensation for fixing product problem of employer?

2 points by newyearnewyou 8 years ago | 3 comments

There is a company we acquired that has a product, with an issue that prevents it from working as the diligence team believed. I was not part of the diligence, nor is my job description related to products of this nature (e.g. this is all occurring beyond the scope of the my job description). Nonetheless, I believe I may have a solution to this issue (to fix the product), but it is worth at least $2M to the company. I'd like to test and share the idea, but I'd like to be compensated accordingly.

patio11 8 years ago |

Short answer: It depends.

More useful answer: It is the market expectation that salaried employees devote their work-related efforts to the benefit of their employer. This issue is work-related, even if not related to your job description; your consideration for best efforts for fixing it is your salary.

If your employer wants to be extra special nice, they may decide to award a discretionary bonus. This will be calculated against your normal pay, in line with other discretionary bonuses [0], and not ordinarily on the incremental business value contributed by your discovery.

[0] At US companies in the tech industry there is wide discretion in these with the lower end being 0, the lower end of plausible being "Here is a gift card for $20 at Applebee's", the mid-range in the tech industry being ~$1k, and the upper range being "AppAmaGooFaceSoft can be quite generous when they want to be."

Broadly speaking if you want variable comp you generally have to be taking on substantially more risk that W-2 employees normally take. If you were a consultant who successfully sold an engagement with the same outcome, you might well be able to negotiate $50k or $100k for the outcome.

There exists substantial variability in work cultures around the world with regards to this question; I know of no geography which is more likely to award a bonus than the US and many which are materially less likely. There exists substantial variability between industries (with finance and sales-oriented professions being most likely to pay directly for an outcome) and within industries.

itamarst 8 years ago |

To add to what patio11 said:

Even if as an employee you don't get paid a lot directly for fixing it, there is still some benefits:

1. You can use this as argument for getting a raise or promotion.

2. When you look for next job, you can say "and I identified a problem, on my own, which saved my last employer $2 million". Which should allow you to negotiate much higher pay.

So overall it might still raise your lifetime earnings by a noticeable amount, if you take advantage of it.

xstartup 8 years ago |

What makes you believe that tossing problem in the market will not help find a solution for lesser than what you are demanding?

I've had people quote me millions for fixing some key architecture issues which I later solved by paying a few thousands.

Most people underestimate what market can offer.