Equity and compensation
Equity is your most expensive currency. Use it wisely, and protect your startup with vesting.
How you split founder equity, size the option pool and pay yourselves shows up in every round after this one. Investors check all three.
Questions answered
- How big should the option pool be at seed?
Balderton's guide: an employee option pool of 7.5 to 10% at seed to Series A, growing to 15% or more. Plus the standard 4-year vesting with a 1-year cliff.
- How should cofounders split equity?
Carta's data on how cofounders really split equity: 41% of two-founder teams split equally, rising to 45.9% in 2024, and a lead founder usually gets more.
Founder equity
- Founder equity split data · Carta
How founders actually split equity, from Carta's data.
- Co-founder equity split · Carta (Peter Walker)
How splits change with the number of co-founders.
Employee options
- OptionPlan · Index Ventures
Index's tool and guide for sizing an option pool and grants by role and stage.
- Equity guide · Balderton Capital
Typical employee grants per round, from a top European VC.
- The Employee Equity Project · Fred Wilson (AVC)
Why employee equity matters and how to think about it.
Founder salaries
- Founder compensation 3.0 · Creandum
What founders pay themselves at each stage, from Creandum's survey.
- Founder comp calculator · Creandum
Benchmark your own salary by stage and country.
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