Startup CEO Compensation by Experience: Do Repeat CEOs Earn More?
Do CEOs earn more on their second or third lap? Let’s find out using analysis from the Thelander Private Company Compensation dataset. Below is a break down of each comp lever to get the full picture. How does startup CEO total cash change with experience? How does non-founder equity change with CEO experience? How does […]
VC Analyst Salary in 2026: What Pre-MBA Analysts Make by Firm AUM
How has compensation for entry-level investment positions at venture capital firms changed over the past 5 years? We’ll be starting with pre-MBA analysts and moving on to associates using the YoY dataset on the Thelander platform. When looking at cash and carry trends, it’s important to know how to customize the data to get an […]
Why Pays the GP Commitment?
Earlier this year, we reported that LPs are asking GPs to put more skin in the game. The share of VC funds with a GP commitment of 1% or less fell from 34.6% in 2023 to 25.9% in 2025. At the same time, the share of funds with a GP commitment of 1-2.9% increased by […]
Do Startup Founder CEOs Get Paid More Than Non-Founder CEOs?
Using the private company compensation dataset from the Thelander platform, we looked at compensation for startup founder and non-founder CEOs at companies that have raised less than $50 million and $50 – $149.9 million. What does the data tell us? Non-founder CEOs earn more total cash than founder CEOs at every percentile and both financing levels. […]
How does compensation change with fund size?
For privately held companies, we know how it (generally) goes – as a company raises more capital, the total cash increases as the equity decreases on the compensation front. While the exact mix of cash and equity depends on the role and company specifics, the same pattern generally holds true for investors at venture capital […]
Private Company 2027 Salary Increases 2027: How to Plan
Whether you’re a founder or CEO thinking on behalf of the company or an individual wondering about your own compensation, by this time of the year, salary increases have probably crossed your mind. And for good reason. There’s a lot of movement in the private capital market. The way companies are hiring is very different from […]
How does executive equity change from Seed → Series A → Series B?
While we like to stay away from the word *should*, the real question is – how does executive equity change as a company raises capital? This week, we’re continuing our deep dive to answer your frequently asked compensation questions. Using the comp planning tool from the Thelander Platform, (a hybrid of our dataset and consulting […]
Startup Compensation Benchmarks: The 7 Hires You Need to Get Right
A few weeks ago, we read an a16z newsletter on the “7 hires a hardware startup needs to get right” that outlined the seven functions (besides engineering) that determines whether a “great product ever becomes a great business.” Which include: Manufacturing, Deployments, Supply Chain, Finance, Sales, Policy and Marketing. And while the piece described how to find […]
What does a Chief of Staff make at Venture Capital firms?
If you’ve been scrolling LinkedIn and you’re in the private capital market, chances are you’ve seen firms hiring for a Chief of Staff (CoS). Since we added the title into the Thelander-PitchBook Investment Firm Compensation Survey in 2023, not only have we seen the number of respondents surge, but the compensation too. At what point […]
QSBS Eligibility: How Investment Firms Track It
Carried Interest & Management Fees Report Have you participated in the Thelander-PitchBook Investment Firm Compensation Survey yet? Secure your complimentary Carried Interest & Management Fees Report when you complete your response by August 17th. Click here to participate. Exclusive Preview From the 2026 Report So far, more than half of respondents keep track of which investments […]