Holloway
Equity Compensation
Equity Compensation≫Offers and Negotiations≫Typical Employee Equity Levels≫

  • There are no hard and fast rules, but for post-series A startups in Silicon Valley, the table below, based on the one by Babak Nivi, gives ballpark equity levels that many think are reasonable. These would usually be for restricted stock or stock options with a standard 4-year vesting schedule. They apply if each of these roles were filled just after an A round and the new hires are also being paid a salary (so are not founders or employees hired before the A round). The upper ranges would be for highly desired candidates with strong track records.

    • Chief executive officer (CEO): 5–10%

    • Chief operating officer (COO): 2–5%

    • Vice president (VP): 1–2%

    • Independent board member: 1%

    • Director: 0.4–1.25%

    • Lead engineer 0.5–1%

    • Senior engineer: 0.33–0.66%

    • Manager or junior engineer: 0.2–0.33%

Stephen Wilcock
These are quite toppy compared to Index Ventures and there is a difference between the US and Europe. indexventures.com/rewardingtalent/calcu…

I think quite a few VCs advise making a distinction between execs (which is based on a percentage) and managers and ICs (which is based on a multiple of salary).
Joshua Levy
Good points! Nivi's post is from 2007 when series A's were smaller too. This is a good additional resource we should include.
Oliver Gilpin
@Joshua Levy -- any update on including it? :)
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