Summary
Highlights
Shreya received an offer of 72 LPA (Lakhs Per Annum) plus 50,000 ESOPs at Komenda. She explains that she misunderstood the ESOPs, assuming they were free. She later learned she had to purchase them at 25 cents each, vesting over four years. This meant an initial investment of $12,500 (approx. 11-12 LPA). The situation worsened as the share value increased to $1 by the time she planned to buy them, incurring significant tax on the appreciated value. She advises negotiating the exercise period and clarification on buyback/IPO possibilities, as ESOPs are not 'free money' and can lead to unexpected costs and complexities, especially for international employees.
Before Komenda, Shreya was a full-time employee at Jar for 10 months. She quit and connected with Spencer (from Komenda) through a mutual contact. Her fintech experience and prior work on dashboards were key selling points. The interview was informal, involving showcasing her Figma work and critiquing Komenda's product. She highlights the contractor path as underrated, allowing for trust-building and relationship development, which can lead to better full-time offers.
As a Design Lead at a 25-person startup, Shreya's work involved complex design for products like US Sales Tax, daily stand-ups, and extensive design walkthroughs to ensure cohesive experiences. Sprint planning every two weeks was a brutal 4-6 hour process. A significant challenge was giving difficult feedback, which caused anxiety and required extensive preparation. Her role encompassed execution, planning, system design, coordination, context switching, and challenging feedback delivery.
Shreya's first design job in September 2021 at Dabo started as a freelance role at 40,000 rupees a month, increasing to 45,000 upon becoming full-time within three months. This was a significant jump from her previous 25,000 as a furniture designer. After Dabo shut down, she contracted for Hall Party, earning 1.2 LPA due to the extensive skills gained at Dabo. She then joined Jar, a Series B startup, seeking mentorship but ultimately hated the experience. She quit after 10 months, which was when she serendipitously landed two contract clients (Komenda and Mew), earning 1.8 LPA and 1.2 LPA respectively, before Komenda offered her the full-time 72 LPA role.
Key hard skills included understanding complex processes, creating intuitive flows (even for problems that AI can't easily solve), and delivering quality work independently and reliably. Essential soft skills were clear communication, the ability to push back constructively, accepting feedback impersonally, being easy to work with (crucial in high-stress startup environments), handling ambiguity, keeping ego in check, and effective collaboration with product and engineering teams by understanding their systems and advocating for design.
Shreya regrets wasting time on hyper-specific skills like animation and now focuses on core design principles like writing, articulation, and problem-solving. She emphasizes building systems and frameworks for efficiency and advises joining small teams for better quality colleagues and avoiding bureaucracy. She highlights the importance of being surrounded by motivated individuals. The intense work schedule, including 40-hour weeks for two clients and long hours at Jar, led to burnout with constant headaches and declining productivity. She learned that such a grind is unsustainable, especially for women, and recommends Cal Newport's 'So Good They Can't Ignore You'. Currently, she prioritizes creativity and YouTube content creation over maximizing money, aiming for a work-life balance that allows time for her passion.