Startup Salary & Equity Database

Know your market value.
Contribute to make comp transparent.



10 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
Principal engineer $250,000 $250,000 0.3% $600,000 $600,000 Remote US 18.0 1.0 Series A 11-50 employees $200M 2023/09
Principal engineer $178,000 $178,000 0.034% $170,000 $170,000 Remote US 8.0 2.0 Series C 201-500 employees $500M 2023/06
Principal engineer $265,000+$46K $265,000 0.3% $240,000+$50K $240,000 Remote US 11.0 0.0 Series A 51-100 employees $80M 2023/05
Principal engineer $250,000 $250,000 0.3% $750,000 $750,000 Remote US 10.0 0.0 Series A 51-100 employees $250M 2023/03
Principal engineer $305,000 $305,000 0.013% $400,000 $400,000 San Francisco Bay Area 15.0 0.0 Series D 201-500 employees $3B 2022/11
Principal engineer $160,000 $160,000 0.6% $60,000 $60,000 Seattle 20.0 1.5 Seed 11-50 employees $10M 2022/10
Principal engineer $230,000 $230,000 0.17% $170,000 $170,000 San Francisco Bay Area 15.0 0.0 Seed 11-50 employees $100M 2022/10
Principal engineer $170,000 $170,000 1.0% $300,000 $300,000 San Francisco Bay Area 6.0 0.0 Seed 1-10 employees $30M 2022/04
Principal engineer $130,000 $130,000 1.0% - - Remote US 11.0 1.0 Seed 1-10 employees - 2022/04
Principal engineer $224,000 $224,000 1.47% $11,000,000 $11,000,000 San Francisco Bay Area 22.0 3.0 Series B 51-100 employees $748M 2022/04

Take 1 minute to add your comp - 100% anonymous ๐Ÿค



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.