About now you are probably saying, “Okay, you’ve written some helpful posts (at least we hope you think they have been helpful) on compensation, but show me the money! What are some real life compensation numbers?”
We hate compensation surveys. We hate average compensations ranges. We hate industry data. But
we know you want it (since 42 of you have asked us for it.) Just be careful how you use it. These are our opinions and experience backed up by some industry data that we track. Every case is different. Your mileage will vary. Tax, title, licence, and delivery charge not included.
Much of the cash comp will depend on how large the company is and where it is along the revenue and profitability curve. Geography matters and while these numbers are for the U.S, there will also be major differences within different parts of the country. Also, note that each round of financing will dilute ownership. We’ve done our best here to spread these numbers out from early stage and more mature startups. One thing that seems fairly consistent: companies with less rounds of funding have lower paid executives and founders make less cash, but have more equity than non-founders. Think of the non-founders as “hired guns” who are professional company managers, whereas the founders may not be, but given the risk of founding the company, generally hold higher equity stakes.
Title |
Cash Comp |
Cash Median |
Bonus |
% Co Equity |
% Co. Median |
CEO |
100k-250k |
200k |
0-100k |
5-20% |
9.0% |
CEO |
180k-260k |
225k |
0-150k |
3-7% |
5.0% |
President / COO |
100k-200k |
175k |
0-50k |
3-8% |
5.0% |
President / COO |
150k-230k |
200k |
0-75k |
1-3% |
1.5% |
CFO |
100k-170k |
150k |
0-20k |
1-5% |
2.5% |
CFO |
100k-200k |
160k |
0-50k |
0.5-1.5% |
1.0% |
CTO |
120k-200k |
160k |
0-30k |
2-10% |
4.0% |
CTO |
125k-200k |
160k |
0-50k |
0.5-2% |
1.0% |
VP Engineering |
150k-185k |
160k |
0-30k |
1.5-5% |
2.5% |
VP Engineering |
150k-200k |
175k |
0-50k |
0.7-1.5% |
1.0% |
VP Sales |
175k-200k |
175k |
0-60k |
1.2-5% |
3.5% |
VP Sales |
160k-200k |
175k |
20-150k |
0.7-1.3% |
1.0% |
VP Business Dev |
150k-180k |
170k |
0-35k |
1.5-5% |
3.0% |
VP Business Development |
150k-190k |
175k |
0-70k |
0.5-1.3% |
0.75% |
VP Marketing |
140k-180k |
160k |
0-30k |
1.3-7% |
3.0% |
VP Marketing |
160k-190k |
175k |
0-50k |
0.5-1.2% |
0.8% |
COMMENTS (9)
So the CEO/Founder of a seed stage startup would expect compensation of $100k? That seems like quite a bit, add a few founders in various executive positions and you've just burned through most of your capital.
I agree. Early stage ventures simply don't have the capital for these numbers and instead dole out far more equity.
Could you break this out into seed funding, Series A, and IPO?
Thanks for sharing this. You don't mention liquidation preferences which have a profound impact on what 9% equity translates into when the company is, for example, sold to Google.
I believe that the numbers that they are quoting are for venture backed companies. Think average salaries for an average series A of $6 million.
From my conversations with angels, they seem to be comfortable with 50% to 75% of the lower range of these numbers.
Seed is seed, you most likely will not get paid at all.
As for the comment re: liquidation preferences, they can have a profound effect on what the percentages are actually worth.
Check our our post on liquidation preferences that we did a while back:
What is typical in terms of severance for each level?
What's the denominator on the percent equity numbers? They don't add up.
@Christopher - I'm not sure I understand the question. Not every company has all of these positions so if you add it up it won't equal 100%.
Excellent insight. Fairly straightforward and I agree with the majority. Thanks!