Hi,
From France, so don't be surprised salaries are very inferior to US equivalent (mostly because healthcare is already included).
I work in microelectronics for a huge player, a sector in high demand since the covid crisis and in a city where there are a lot of big industrial companies are struggling to recruit engineers and technicians. I was approached by two startups (less than 100 employees, a couple years old), did all the ITWs and got job offers : For both of them the salary was below or barely equal to my current one (around 47k€ a year). Both of them were suprised I declined “We're offering a once in a lifetime opportunity, it's not a salary but a project….”).
The argument I gave them is the following : they are asking me to leave a well established stable company for an unknown one that hasn't released a product yet and is living on fundraising. In my mind they have to compensate the risk I take with higher salary. Am I right with that reasoning ?