Scientist Compensation at Private Companies: How Cash and Equity Shift by Funding Stage
Scientist compensation at private companies doesn’t just rise with each funding round—the balance between cash and equity can flip as companies grow. As private companies raise more capital, the mix shifts: cash is more available and equity is more of a commodity. Using real-time data from the Thelander Comp Planning Tool, here’s how scientist total […]
How CVC Unit Leader Compensation Has Changed Since 2022
CVC Unit Leader compensation has grown meaningfully over the past five years, with the sharpest gains showing up in carried interest. Using data from the Thelander platform, this data drop tracks how total cash and carried interest for CVC Unit Leaders—senior corporate-level executives running corporate venture units—have shifted from 2022 through 2026, at both the […]
How Private Tech CEO Compensation Changes by Revenue
In this week’s PC data drop, we’re using data from the Thelander Platform looking at how median total cash, founder and non-founder equity compensation for CEOs of private tech companies shifts based on revenue. Generally speaking, the more revenue a company generates, the higher the CEOs median total cash compensation. As far as total founder […]
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.
Committing Capital For Your Carry
Committing capital for your carried interest is one of the most important – and often least talked about – parts of a carry package. When investment professionals write a personal check into the fund, they are putting skin in the game. That capital committed is tied directly to the amount of carried interest they receive, […]
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 […]