Compensation Infrastructure for Startups: How Pay Plans Evolve as You Raise Capital
Building compensation infrastructure for startups is one of the most overlooked foundations of a growing company—but what does putting it in place really mean? It means building a clear job architecture and a structured salary framework. It also means moving away from ad-hoc decisions—whether driven by what an individual candidate asks for or by setting […]
Salary Structures 101
Salary Structures 101: How to Build a Compensation Infrastructure for Your Startup
What Startups Need to Know Re: Secondary Markets & Compensation
Thelander recently published the results from the Private Company Year-End Merit Increase, Option Pool & Bonus Report (available through a subscription to the Thelander Platform) – which featured new data on secondary markets given their prominence in today’s global private capital market. Here’s what startups need to know re: secondary markets and compensation. The results? 92% of private companies […]
What Are Director of Investor Relations Making at Investment Firms?
Investor relations has become a strategic role at investment firms, and Director of Investor Relations compensation is starting to reflect it. As fundraising and exits take longer, Directors of IR sit at the intersection of capital raising, LP communication and firm reputation. So, does the compensation data reflect that growing responsibility? At firms with less […]
What do CFOs at private companies make?
CFOs are invaluable at private companies (AKA startups) —often seen as the #2 alongside the CEO. At later‑stage private companies, the CFO isn’t just running finance; they’re co‑piloting the business and owning the path to liquidity (which is opening back up). So, what are these key players making? Using YoY data from the Thelander platform (available […]
Family Office vs. Venture Capital Firms: Who Pays More?
When it comes to family office vs venture capital compensation, there’s no single answer to who pays more, it depends entirely on the role, the percentile you’re using and the total AUM. This week’s investment firm data drop analyzes total cash and carried interest compensation for Managing General Partners and Director / Principal level roles at family offices and […]
Startup Compensation Trends: Five Straight Years of Total Cash Growth
Startup compensation trends continued their upward climb in 2025. This data drop analyzes total cash compensation trends across four key positions – CEOs, CSOs, Engineering Managers and Operation Managers – at startups that have raised between $50 and $109.9 million in total financing. Thelander data shows that total cash increased in 2025 for all four positions at […]
Investment Firm Compensation: Salary Increases for 2026
Welcome back to the Thelander Compensation Digest. As we wrap up 2025, here is a sneak peek at the results from our Salary Increase & Bonus Survey with PitchBook. Noteworthy is the cost of living increase as a factor for salary increases, which ties directly to market conditions. Find out more below! The percentage of […]
Investment Firm Salary Increases for 2026
Welcome back to the Thelander Compensation Digest. As we wrap up 2025, here is a sneak peek at the results from our Salary Increase & Bonus Survey with PitchBook. Noteworthy is the cost of living increase as a factor for salary increases, which ties directly to market conditions. Find out more below! The percentage of […]
Diving into Private Company Salary Increases
Most private company roles saw higher raise rates in 2025, especially at the leadership level. See which positions got the biggest bumps with Thelander’s exclusive benchmark data.