Engineering leaders who are underpaid for what they can actually do

Increase Your Salary. Build the value you can prove, then negotiate the number.

You are good. You know you are good. And you have watched louder, less capable peers take the title and the number while you stayed 'so valuable where you are.' Two years of 'keep doing what you are doing' is not loyalty being rewarded. It is your market value quietly falling behind.

Value you cannot prove does not pay. We build the portfolio that makes your impact undeniable, put it in the language a CTO and a CFO both respect, and rehearse the negotiation until the number moves. 3,000+ mentoring sessions, ex-VPE at Mews, ex-Manta acquired by IBM.

Book the intro →

Situations you are likely in, and how we tackle them

Marian Kamenistak in a 1:1 mentoring session.

You are the one who keeps the lights on and the last one they think to promote.

I am the person the team leans on when it breaks. Somehow that has made me "too valuable to move." Two years of strong reviews and the same band. The people who talk more get moved up faster. I am starting to think competence is a career trap.

You have probably tried

Working harder and hoping someone notices
Waiting for the annual cycle to be fair
Assuming good work speaks for itself
Watching a louder peer get the title you earned

How we tackle it

We make your value legible. Thirty-plus impact statements that translate what you did into what changed: money, time, scope, risk removed. The work you have been doing silently becomes a case a decision-maker cannot argue with.

Target: A portfolio of provable impact, and a manager who can no longer use "we love you here" as a reason to pay you less.

Related reads

You do not know your number. So you negotiate blind.

Someone asks "what are your salary expectations" and my stomach drops. I genuinely do not know what my role pays at the top of the market. So I anchor low, or I dodge, and either way I leave money on the table before the conversation even starts.

You have probably tried

Googling "average" salaries that mean nothing
Asking one friend who might be underpaid too
Guessing high and bracing for a no
Letting the employer name the number first

How we tackle it

We calibrate against real data: Levels.fyi for global, Platy.cz for CZ, and my own network of tech-leadership comp across CEE. You walk in with a defensible band and the specific number you will ask for, not a vibe.

Target: A number in writing you can defend with data, and the nerve to say it out loud without flinching.

Related reads

Your work is a 9. The way you describe it lands like a 5.

In the review, or the interview, I describe what I did in task language. "I led the migration." "I managed the team." I know it fell flat but I do not know how to say it better without sounding like I am bragging. The CFO in the room checked out.

You have probably tried

Listing responsibilities on the CV
Downplaying it to seem humble
Over-explaining technical detail nobody in the room cares about
Hoping the results are self-evident

How we tackle it

We build your differentiator sentence and the business vocabulary to back it: strategy, unit economics, the tradeoffs a leader owns. Then we record you saying it until the outcome language is automatic and the bragging worry is gone.

Target: You can state your value in one sentence a CTO respects and a CFO understands, under pressure.

Related reads

"Next cycle" has been the answer for three cycles.

Every time I raise comp it is "budgets are tight" or "next review." I do not want to threaten to leave, I actually like it here. But I am done being the cheapest senior person in the building while I train the people who out-earn me.

You have probably tried

Sending a market-rate link (they smiled)
Waiting for the right moment that never comes
Accepting "next cycle" three times
Quietly resenting it and staying anyway

How we tackle it

We build the case and rehearse the ask: the impact log, the market band, the specific number, and the "if not X by Y, then Z" plan in writing. I play your manager in the dry run so the real conversation is not the first time you say it out loud.

Target: The specific conversation delivered, a number on the table, and a documented fallback if the answer is still no.

Related reads

You take the first offer out of relief.

An offer lands and I am so relieved someone said yes that I accept it. Then I find out later I could have had 20% more for asking one question. I do not know how to push without blowing up the goodwill.

You have probably tried

Accepting the first number to avoid the awkwardness
Asking for "10% more" with no anchor
Assuming the offer is take-it-or-leave-it
Negotiating for the first time in the real conversation

How we tackle it

We run mock negotiations, me as the hiring manager. Anchor, the silence, the second-ask, the walk-away, your BATNA. For an internal boost, we coach the scope-and-title conversation, not just the number. Negotiation is a 30-minute skill that pays for a decade.

Target: A signed offer at a negotiated number, or a promotion with scope and comp, that you did not leave on the table.

Related reads

The questions I hear most from Engineering leaders who are underpaid for what they can actually do

These are the exact asks from mentees in the last 12 months. Bring one to the intro call and we start there.

I am underpaid and "too valuable to move." How do I break out?
How do I prove my impact instead of just listing what I did?
What does my role actually pay at the top of the CEE market?
How do I talk about my value without sounding like I am bragging?
The raise keeps getting pushed to "next cycle." What now?
How much should I ask for, and how do I not take the first offer?
How do I get promoted when quiet competence keeps losing to louder peers?
How do I build the business vocabulary a CFO respects?
Should I get a competing offer to move my current comp?
How do I turn two years of stuck into a real jump in one quarter?

How mentoring with me works

Free 30-min intro. Two KPIs to move in 3-6 months. Small homework after every session. The full method, step by step:

See how mentoring works →

Frequently asked

Is this just salary-negotiation coaching?+

No. Negotiation is the last 30 minutes. Most of the work is earlier: building value you can prove and say out loud. A great negotiation on a weak case still loses. We fix the case first, then the ask.

What if my company genuinely cannot pay more?+

Then we find out fast, and we build the outside option. Sometimes the honest answer is that a boost is not available here and the raise lives at the next company. I will tell you straight which one you are in.

Can we talk about real numbers?+

Yes. I have tech-leadership comp data across CEE, EU, UK, and US, plus Levels.fyi and Platy.cz calibration. We work from real bands, not vibes.

Is this based on a fixed program?+

It draws on the same method I have run across 3,000+ sessions: know your value, make it provable, make it visible, negotiate it. We run the parts you need, at your pace, one to one.

How fast can the number actually move?+

A raise conversation can land in weeks. A market jump through a new role is usually a 60 to 90 day arc. Negotiation itself is a 30-minute skill that pays for a decade. We are not waiting for the annual cycle.