levels.fyi
Reddit growth strategy
Target communities, persona strategy per subreddit, discovery plan, and how we measure impact on salary submissions.
Core objective
What we're creating
A wave of "am i getting underpaid?" across Reddit
We want people scrolling Reddit to stop and think: "wait, what if i could be making more and i just don't know?" That thought leads them to levels.fyi. Once they check, they want to see more data for their company. So they add theirs. That's how submissions grow.
Target communities & personas
Each subreddit gets its own character
We don't post as levels.fyi. We post as real people who have a genuine reason to bring up compensation data. Each community gets a persona with a different motivation.
r/overemployedThe engineer who stopped feeling guilty
Looked up his title on levels.fyi, realized his company pays 40% below market. Now he doesn't feel bad about his second job. "If they valued me at market rate i wouldn't need to do this."
r/overemployed
···
my title pays $80k more at other companies. i don't feel guilty about OE anymore.
i've been working two remote jobs for about 8 months now. the guilt was eating at me until last week when i decided to actually look up what my title pays at other companies. pulled up levels.fyi, filtered by my role and YOE, and the numbers were insane. my primary employer is paying me 40% below what comparable companies offer for the same exact title. i'm not even at the median...
r/careerguidanceThe career switcher doing their homework
Ex-teacher exploring tech. Using levels.fyi to figure out which roles actually pay what everyone claims. Sharing their research process with screenshots of comp ranges.
r/careerguidance
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everyone says 'just switch to tech' but nobody shows the actual numbers
former high school teacher here, 4 years in the classroom. i keep hearing "just learn to code" like it's some magic ticket but nobody actually breaks down what you'd realistically make in year 1 vs year 5. so i spent the last two weeks pulling real salary data and comparing roles. the range is way wider than people think and it depends heavily on...
r/personalfinanceThe negotiator who pulled the data first
Walked into a review with levels.fyi data showing they were $30k under market. Got the raise. Sharing the playbook so others can do the same.
r/personalfinance
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i negotiated a $32k raise this week. data, not feelings.
i've been at the same company for 3 years and my salary hasn't moved much. last monday i finally sat down and did the research before my annual review. pulled comp data for my exact title, level, and city. printed out the ranges and walked in with three pages of benchmarks. my manager couldn't argue with the numbers because they were...
r/dataisbeautifulThe data nerd who loves a good chart
Visualized the pay gap between Mag 7 companies, or mapped salary by city. The data is the content. Levels.fyi is the source credit.
r/dataisbeautiful
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[OC] senior engineer pay at all mag 7 companies. the gap is insane.
been wanting to make this chart for a while. pulled total compensation data for L5/senior engineers across all the mag 7 companies. included base, equity, and bonus broken out separately. the difference between the highest and lowest paying company at the same level is over $200k when you factor in stock appreciation. built with d3.js, data sourced from...
r/antiworkThe worker who found out HR was lying
HR said they were "at market rate." Checked levels.fyi and discovered that was 35% below actual market. The post is about corporate comp gaslighting. The data is the proof.
r/antiwork
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HR said i was 'competitively compensated.' i'm in the bottom 15%. they knew.
asked for a raise last quarter and got the classic "you're already at market rate for your role" line. something felt off so i went and looked it up myself. turns out i'm not just below market, i'm in the bottom 15th percentile for my exact title in my city. the median is $35k higher than what i make. they had to know this when they...
r/financialindependenceThe FIRE planner mapping the fastest path
Using levels.fyi data to identify which companies and levels accelerate their FIRE timeline. Not about the tool, about the strategy.
r/financialindependence
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which tech company gets you to FIRE fastest? the wrong choice costs you 6 years.
i built a spreadsheet that models time-to-FIRE for a senior engineer at different tech companies using real total comp numbers. assumed 50% savings rate, 7% annual returns, and $2.5M target. the gap between the fastest and slowest path to FIRE is over 6 years just based on which company you choose. the biggest factor isn't base salary, it's the equity...
r/cscareerquestionsThe engineer deciding between two offers
Has two offers, used levels.fyi to compare total comp when you factor in equity vesting schedules, bonuses, and refreshers.
r/cscareerquestions
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two offers, one looks higher on paper. the other one wins by year 3.
got two offers this week, both for senior SWE. company A is offering $185k base + $200k RSU over 4 years. company B is $170k base + $280k RSU but with a back-loaded vesting schedule. on paper A looks better but when i actually modeled the total comp year by year using real vesting data, B overtakes A by year 3 and the gap keeps growing because of...
r/experienceddevsThe senior dev who's been underleveled for 3 years
Compared their responsibilities to levels.fyi's leveling guide and realized they're doing Staff work at Senior pay. The post is about the realization.
r/experienceddevs
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doing staff-level work for 3 years at senior pay. it's not even close.
i lead the architecture for two critical services, mentor 4 junior engineers, and regularly present to leadership on technical direction. my title is still "senior engineer." last week i sat down and compared my actual responsibilities against the leveling frameworks and the match to staff/principal is unmistakable. the pay gap between senior and staff at my company is...
The strategy
Create FOMO at scale
Every post plants one seed: what if you're getting underpaid and you don't even know it?
1
Someone reads a post about comp data
"wait... how much does MY title actually pay?"
↓
2
They check levels.fyi
"holy shit, people in my same role make $40k
more?"
↓
3
They want to see MORE data for their specific
company
"there's only 3 submissions for my company...
i'll add mine"
↓
🔄
Database grows. Better data. More FOMO. More
submissions.
the flywheel never stops
The account
Aged, active, and ready to post
We're not starting from scratch. This account has been built up over a year with real engagement - it won't trigger spam filters or look like a throwaway.
The plan
Discovery first, then double down
WK 1-2
Discover
Test all 8 subs. Post 2-3 stories. Find which
ones drive clicks and curiosity.
WK 3-4
Focus
Cut losers. Double down on the top 2-3 subs that
actually moved numbers.
MONTH 2
Velocity
3-4 posts/week. Daily engagement. Submissions
start moving visibly.
MONTH 3+
Compound
Community carries it. Old posts still convert.
The wave sustains itself.
How you'll see it working
We correlate every post with your submission data. Small
uptick = we found a winning sub. We do more of that.
Reporting
Sunday
Weekly report delivered every Sunday evening
Views & reach
Total impressions across all posts that week
Top posts
Best performing content with screenshots
Engagement
Comments, upvotes, saves, and DMs received
Clicks & signups
Traffic driven to levels.fyi from Reddit
Learnings
What worked, what didn't, and adjustments
Next week plan
Upcoming post topics and target threads