How Long Until You Get Promoted? Career Progression at Investment Firms
The promotion timeline at investment firms varies by level, but the data reveals a clear pattern: the higher you climb, the longer it takes to move up. Using data from the Thelander platform across 500+ investment firms, here’s how long professionals typically spend in each role before their next promotion. Using data from the Thelander […]
How Startup Executive Compensation Has Changed Since 2021
Using the Thelander YoY private company dataset, we looked to see which private company executives have seen the biggest movement in total cash since 2021. For startups with $50–$109.9M in total financing: In other words, CSOs have quietly seen some of the strongest total cash growth in this funding band—especially at the top end of the […]
Committing Capital For Your Carry: What Every VC Needs to Know
How much capital are GPs expected to commit for their carry? Thelander data shows VC fund commitment requirements are rising — see 2023–2025 benchmarks by partner level.
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 […]
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 […]