Might be moving to GA

[Matt]

sweet.

[Coder]

Ok, back home again. The story so far:

We've been emailing back and forth for a while, then they asked me for a sample-project. They basically asked me to create a small database application to add/edit/delete people. I could use any .net technology I wanted, C#, VB.net etc, I could do Winforms or ASP, whatever. They wanted to see the code and they wanted to know how long it took me to write.

So I slapped it together an early Sunday and emailed it to them the same day.

I got a reply almost immediately from the CEO who thanked me and told me that he'd go over it with his "R&D VP" the following week. In the same email, he asked me if I'm "entrepreneurial" (thank god for spellcheckers), then he said: "would you accept a lower salary for equity in a business".

I answered him rather philosophically that while I do have a certain break even in terms of salary, I don't really care if it's below market value enough, and that being a part of something rather than "just" being an employee would be more stimulating than a higher salary.

Anyway, things were taking a long time so I sent an email at the end of that week where I asked 10 questions about the company. The CEO guy then replied within 2 hours with some very thought out answers that really appealed to me, and he also apologized for their evaluation of my code was taking a long time, but they were rather swamped.

Another week goes by and I hear nothing, but then I get another apology for the delay, again citing the workload for the R&D-guy.

Anyway, another week goes by and I get a new email.. The CEO has been talking to his attorney and now they're super anxious to get me over. Apparently there are still open slots in the 2009 allotments for work VISAs and he asks me if I can come over in JANUARY!!

That's way too early for me, so I say that it won't be possible, no matter how much I want that. I have 3 months notice where I work today for example, plus the fact that I have loads o things to take care of in terms of getting rid of my car, cleaning out my apartment, rent it out and box things up for storage etc. Not to mention the psychological part of moving 5000 miles .

My ideal situation, and this is something that has been discussed, is that I start by doing some remote work for them while still working at my current employer (on the side), so that we sort of "try eachother out" first. Then by April when the application process begins with the H1B1-Visas, we will know if it's a good thing or not.

However, since I sent him the link with the average salaries he hasn't gotten back to me, and that was Wednesday.