How much do seed stage founders pay themselves?

Cutting the data specifically for companies that are seed funded, our data shows that CEO founders of startups that have raised seed financing pay themselves, on average, $119,000.

How much equity do startup founders get?

As a rule, independent startup advisors get up to 5\% of shares (or no equity at all). Investors claim 20-30\% of startup shares, while founders should have over 60\% in total. You may also leave some available pool (5\%), but don’t forget to allocate 10\% to employees.

How much stock does a founder get?

Practical Example of Founders Stock Since the company has 5,000 outstanding shares, each founder receives half. If the firm hires four employees in the first year, then each one of them would receive about 250 shares. This brings the sum of the outstanding shares to 6,000.

How do startup founders get rich?

Founders make money when they sell their own shares. This happens in an event called “exit”. In exit, founders sell shares to another company or stock traders.

Do founders take salary?

Founders are paid only when they work as employees. Non-working founders do deserve equity and dividends, but it does not entitle them to a fixed remuneration each month or week. So, if your only contribution is money and/or some assistance during the ideation phase, you don’t get a salary.

How much should a startup founder take in salary?

Seed Legals (a UK based startup focusing on automating the legal work for startups) completed a study, and their data and found that: “the decision to take a salary very much depends on the size of the round. For rounds of £150k or below, around half of founders secure a salary.”

Is a $100K salary too much for an angel/VC-backed startup co-founder?

A founder who raised $500,000 used the Q&A site to ask, “Is a $100K salary too much for an angel/VC-backed startup co-founder?” Foundry Group’s Brad Feld thought a six-figure salary was too high for an early entrepreneur.

How much do Y Combinator founders get paid?

Career research company 80,000 Hours estimates that founders going through the Y Combinator accelerator program pay themselves about $50,000. If they go on to raise more money, that salary can double.

Should I raise money to pay myself as a co-founder?

It is important to note that you should not be deciding to raise money solely in order to pay yourself (or co-founders) a salary. It can be a factor in determining how much to raise, but it should not be the primary consideration.