when I was 20. I'd never programmed before, either, and had had only one college-level class in programming. So I ended up managing support (hiring, firing, scheduling, etc.), doing tier-2 support, writing software, and working to come up with ways to improve the company -- its offerings to customers, and internally. I was originally doing well with 40-50 hour weeks and paid overtime. Then the boss put me on salary so that he didn't have to pay me overtime. I had a small amount of stock options that vested slowly (which remained worthless even after I left), but no other compensation. The salary wasn't terrible for someone with my lack of experience. But, then he said I needed to work 50+ hours every week without additional compensation. That took its toll on me physically, mentally and emotionally. There were no perks. It was me and a desk almost every waking hour of the week, not including the work I was taking home. Relationships in and outside of work started to suffer. Looking back, I was treated like a pack mule, and for no apparent reason. I was scrambling to keep up with the workload all day, every day. And there was no clear ambition I'd been informed of. No overall "goal" I was working toward. No end in sight to the overworking. Had there been a clear goal... a plan to achieve it... an end... I think it would've been somewhat easier. But it still would've taken significantly more compensation to make it even close to worthwhile. I should've quit and continued my education when he starting his routine of overworking me. Having that as my first experience working in an office did not make my life easier, either. I think I was actually so busy I never had time to fully consider the toll it was taking on me (though I certainly was aware of it), and whether or not it was really worth it.
My point is, tread carefully. I don't think there's an easy answer here, and no matter what happens, each of you will need to decide whether or not the kind of change the boss is offering is really the right change for you at the present time.
Good luck. Hope your boss is easier to negotiate with than mine was.