# Equity vs cash compensation

Concept · [Talent and hiring](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/talent)

Also called: equity compensation, cash compensation, compensation, comp, salary, sweat equity, equity only, pay range, total compensation

The two main ways a startup pays people. Cash is salary or an [hourly rate](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/time-and-materials). [Equity](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/equity) is a share of ownership, usually as [stock options](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/stock-options), which pays off only if the company becomes valuable.

**For example:** A [job post](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/recruiter) lists a salary of 90,000 dollars plus [stock options](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/stock-options). Another post offers equity only. Stating which one up front lets a candidate judge the offer.

## Connects to (10)

- [Equity](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/equity): Ownership in a company.
- [Stock options](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/stock-options): The right to buy shares in the company later at a price that is set today.
- [Vesting](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/vesting): Earning your shares bit by bit over time instead of all at once.
- [Recruiter](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/recruiter): A person whose job is to find and contact candidates for open roles.
- [Job description](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/job-description): A short written summary of a role: what the person will do, the skills it needs, who they report to and how it is paid.
- [Offer letter](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/offer-letter): A written job offer to the chosen candidate.
- [Payroll](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/payroll): Paying employees on a schedule, and the work that goes with it: withholding income and payroll taxes from each paycheck, paying the…
- [Moonlighting](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/moonlighting): Doing paid work on the side, outside a full-time job.
- [Techlahoma jobs channel](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/techlahoma-jobs-channel): The #jobs channel in the Techlahoma Slack, where members post open tech roles.
- [Commission](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/commission): Pay that is a share of the sales a person brings in, rather than, or on top of, a fixed salary.

Map view: https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/equity-vs-cash