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 Founder	100k-250k	200k	0-100k	5-20%	9.0%
CEO Non-Founder	180k-260k	225k	0-150k	3-7%	5.0%
President / COO Founder	100k-200k	175k	0-50k	3-8%	5.0%
President / COO Non-Founder	150k-230k	200k	0-75k	1-3%	1.5%
CFO Founder	100k-170k	150k	0-20k	1-5%	2.5%
CFO Non-Founder	100k-200k	160k	0-50k	0.5-1.5%	1.0%
CTO Founder	120k-200k	160k	0-30k	2-10%	4.0%
CTO Non-Founder	125k-200k	160k	0-50k	0.5-2%	1.0%
VP Engineering Founder	150k-185k	160k	0-30k	1.5-5%	2.5%
VP Engineering Non-Founder	150k-200k	175k	0-50k	0.7-1.5%	1.0%
VP Sales Founder	175k-200k	175k	0-60k	1.2-5%	3.5%
VP Sales Non-Founder	160k-200k	175k	20-150k	0.7-1.3%	1.0%
VP Business Dev Founder	150k-180k	170k	0-35k	1.5-5%	3.0%
VP Business Development Non-Founder	150k-190k	175k	0-70k	0.5-1.3%	0.75%
VP Marketing Founder	140k-180k	160k	0-30k	1.3-7%	3.0%
VP Marketing Non-Founder	160k-190k	175k	0-50k	0.5-1.2%	0.8%