More factors in the decision:
Current company:
Pros - love the CEO and team, potential equity, sorta sexy story to tell in the market. Work from home when not traveling - a big factor considering I live in So Cal. Earned high degree of freedom. I work hard but I can also do pretty much what I want to do (start at 6am, go to gym at 4, have dinner, get back to work, mix in some golf once in awhile, etc). SVP title over sales of all of NA. Took me awhile to get there so getting lots of offers for similar positions.
Cons - overpromise and under-deliver. Getting bad reputation in the market and customer churn is frightening. Weak engineering team but getting better. Benefits aren't great, especially health plan. Even top performers in sales management or executive leadership NEVER hit at plan compensation. Best is maybe 80%. There is such a drive for high growth so we can exit that the #'s in the plan are not realistic. They get downgraded for the company mid year - but not in our comp plans. So we always fall short of at plan comp targets. Company bonuses hit the last 2 quarters but missed the previous 8. Morale is fragile. Losing deals a lot more than in the past due to reputation catching up to us (as well as competitors). The code is out of my control. That's my biggest frustration. Equity cashout is not guaranteed. Could disappear. CFO was replaced and I know the guy sent packing got zip.
New suitor:
Pros - explosive growth. We're talking 70 percent last year. Highly rated products. Said they won every major deal they went after last year. CEO and EVP said to be great, approachable at all levels of the company, etc. CEO and company HQ out of the country. Truly international company in the UK, Australia, etc. Winning important National Health IT business. Only skyped with the CEO, but great guy, wants winners on the team that can help grow the business and he can also have a beer with. Big increase in cash comp. We're talking up to 100K in base and potentially 1.5-2X of W2 based on what people in the same position have done (including the EVP who was in the role previously). Great benefits - including current 100% paid premiums for PPO for entire family, with 750-1500 deductible. Beautiful office right off PCH, ocean views.
Cons: Even though they are rumored to be likely going the IPO route, they are saying shares are locked up this year. I'd obviously like to have them in hand now before an event (even with longer vesting schedule) as opposed to getting them after the fact. Should be one of their bigger recruiting tools but they seem reluctant, saying they have never offered to new candidates before. I've been pressing - we'll see if it ends up in the offer letter. Commute - looks like if not on the road the expectation is you will be in the office. I've been a home office guy for 20+ years, even though I travel to corporate often. Still, I realize the higher up I go the expectation is they want you to be in the office. I've only commuted one time in my life and it was hell. This would be a much "prettier" drive looking at the Pacific, but it's still 50 minutes with no traffic and an hour and a half if gets backed up. Don't know if I could deal with 2-3 hours every day. On the flip side I wouldn't have to relocate - which his big. Even though the comp is much higher the title looks like a drop. Going from an SVP over the whole country to a VP over top National Accounts. Still manage the same team size, but on paper from a career perspective it would look to be a downward move.
Summary - to Dentist's comments I'm FULLY aware the grass is not always greener. Many times it isn't. I'm going to look at this from a happiness/quality of life perspective as much as I am $$. But right or wrong, I do look at this differently at 52 then I would at 42. At 42 I would just ride the shares because I have time. But if ride this for 3-5 years and the shares don't pay off it would suck and not as much time to take another successful shot before I want to be spending a lot more time making chili, golfing and in Cabo