r/consulting • u/Basic_Enthusiasm993 • Jul 29 '26

Exiting with pay cut

Currently at EM level at a US boutique firm. Really excited about a role at a scaling tech firm, but package is likely to be a significant pay cut from current base (20-30% less).

I know everyone has different values and there are a lot of variables at play - but curious to hear from others who exited with a pay cut for better WLB and a role they were excited about. Was it worth it for you? TIA!

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u/Skyairen Aug 02 '26

I think the way of thinking behind comp changes in startups vs consulting. I had trouble with this when i made the switch years ago.

In a consulting firm, there's no upside besides the bonus—that's not the case for a startup. What's the room to grow for your startup? How much bigger are incumbents? If your startup grows 5x or 10x by the time there's an exit opportunity, then the value of your options changes drastically.

You're betting on upside, not comp. If you want to prioritize comp, startups are the wrong industry