Mothers (YC X26) Is Hiring

YC X26 startup Mothers just dropped a salaries-to-make-you-spit-your-coffee hiring post for Austin: on-site roles in acoustic machine learning, computer vision, and digital signal processing, with pay ranging from $100K to $400K and 0.1%–0.5% equity. The listing reads like a deep‑tech dream; the comments read like a family group chat after you say you’re not coming home for the holidays.

The loudest fight? On-site only. Remote die‑hards screamed “it’s 2020 called, it wants its office keycard back,” while hardware vets shot back that acoustic sensors and lab gear don’t debug themselves over Zoom. “If you’re building microphones and systems, you need people in the room,” became the rallying cry—and the counter was an equally spicy “my boss doesn’t pay my rent in Austin.”

Then there’s the $100K–$400K bombshell. One commenter called it “salary roulette,” another joked the range covers “intern to CTO,” while comp nerds argued it simply spans junior to principal levels. Equity at 0.1–0.5% sparked debate too: some said it’s stingy for early employees; others insisted that’s standard for a YC‑stage company.

And the name? “Mothers.” The meme machine went into overdrive: “Mother knows best—get in the van (to the office),” “Are they guilt‑tripping us into relocating?” and a side‑quest of speculation about what they’re building—smart home audio, wearables, or something spicier. A few raised surveillance worries (acoustics + vision, yikes), while optimists cheered “finally, real engineering in Austin.” Drama served hot, with a side of tacos.