Startup Salary & Equity Database

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26 submissions; add yours today

Title Salary Hide salary, order only Equity % Equity $ Hide equity, order only Location Total YOE Years at Startup Stage Size Valuation Date
CTO $175,000 $175,000 1.5% $300,000 $300,000 Remote US 20.0 1.5 Seed 11-50 employees $20M 2025/02
Director of Research $75,000 $75,000 3.33% $200,000 $200,000 New York City 6.0 3.0 Seed 1-10 employees $6M 2025/02
CTO $230,000 $230,000 20.0% $4,000,000 $4,000,000 Remote 20.0 2.5 Seed 1-10 employees $20M 2024/02
Director of Engineering $190,000 $190,000 1.22% $183,000 $183,000 Remote US 5.0 5.0 Seed 1-10 employees $15M 2024/02
Fractional CTO $288,000 $288,000 0.0% - - Remote US 10.0 0.5 Seed 1-10 employees - 2024/01
Director of engineering $200,000 $200,000 1.8% $440,000 $440,000 San Francisco Bay Area 7.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees $24M 2024/01
CTO $140,000 $140,000 2.4% $120,000 $120,000 Remote Australia 20.0 3.0 Seed 1-10 employees $5M 2023/09
Director of engineering $250,000 $250,000 2.5% $1,250,000+$115K $1,250,000 Remote US 10.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees $50M 2023/07
Director of AI $180,000 $180,000 2.2% $286,000 $286,000 San Francisco Bay Area 8.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees $13M 2023/07
CTO $260,000 $260,000 0.0% - - New York City 5.0 1.0 Seed 11-50 employees - 2023/01
CTO $780,000+$60K $780,000 1.25% $12,500,000+$5000K $12,500,000 Remote US 23.0 0.0 Seed 101-200 employees $1B 2023/01
CTO $170,000 $170,000 3.33% $1,000,000 $1,000,000 Toronto 20.0 4.0 Seed 11-50 employees $30M 2022/11
CTO $120,000 $120,000 3.0% $150,000 $150,000 Remote US 20.0 0.5 Seed 11-50 employees $5M 2022/09
Senior director of engineering $300,000 $300,000 0.725% $7,250 $7,250 Remote US 11.0 2.0 Seed 11-50 employees $1M 2022/08
CTO $200,000 $200,000 2.0% $300,000 $300,000 Remote US 12.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees $15M 2022/05
CTO $200,000+$20K $200,000 3.0% - - San Francisco 9.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees - 2022/04
CTO $195,000 $195,000 2.5% $500,000 $500,000 Remote US 0.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees $20M 2022/03
CTO $420,000 $420,000 2.5% - - San Francisco 15.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees - 2022/03
CTO $200,000 $200,000 3.0% $390,000 $390,000 New York City 12.0 1.5 Seed 1-10 employees $13M 2022/02
CTO $35,000 $35,000 17.0% - - Stockholm 3.0 3.0 Seed 1-10 employees - 2022/02
CTO $275,000 $275,000 2.0% - - San Francisco 12.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees - 2022/02
Director of engineering $170,000 $170,000 0.83% - - San Francisco 4.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees - 2022/01
Director of engineering $200,000 $200,000 1.1% - - San Francisco 9.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees - 2022/01
Director of engineering $190,000 $190,000 2.0% - - San Francisco 10.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees - 2022/01
Director of engineering $220,000 $220,000 1.1% - - Los Angeles 9.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees - 2022/01
Director of engineering $140,000 $140,000 0.88% - - Atlanta 7.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees - 2022/01

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Combination of private submissions and private benchmarks. Exact submission date is listed under "Date" column. All submissions are vetted for accuracy.

It's your % ownership of the startup. Calculated one of two ways:
โ€ข Your total # of shares รท Fully diluted outstanding shares x 100 โ€” confirm that it's fully diluted; otherwise, your stake will look higher than it truly is
โ€ข Current value of your shares รท current company valuation x 100 โ€” value is based on preferred price (what investors paid); updates with each fundraise

Always make sure you have the numerator and the denominator.

Equity % helps you project what you stand to make. For example, if you have a 1% equity stake in a startup valued at $100M, which eventually IPOs at $1B, your stake will be worth 1% * $1B * dilution rate โ€” dilution rate varies, but a rule of thumb is to assume 10-25% per funding round. This means the earlier you join, the more diluted you'll become. But you'll also have a lower strike price and usually a much bigger % to start with.

TLDR: know your comp band, target a percentile in-line with how strongly the company needs your skillset, and counter based on what you care about most (salary, equity, bonus, benefits).

But every situation is different. If you'd like 1:1 support and guaranteed higher comp, we can help.