A survey conducted by venture capital firm TLV Partners among 30 portfolio companies at the Seed and Series A stages shows that senior managers at early-stage startups often receive significantly more equity than peers joining later. Option grants for top executives and senior engineers at seed companies can reach 2.5% of the company—which could be worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars if the startup succeeds.

The survey highlights that the first five key hires usually receive the most generous equity packages. “These are highly experienced and capable people whom the company needs to bring on board to survive the critical first stage of product development,” explains Toby Stein, Head of Talent & Operations at TLV Partners [pictured above]. “Founders must persuade them to join a risky seed-stage company, often without the ability to offer high salaries. Equity compensation is therefore much higher compared to similar roles joining after a Series A.”

Stein adds: “We conducted the survey to give both startups and candidates reference points for whether senior executives and developers are asking for a reasonable or excessive equity package. In recent years the market has been a rollercoaster—from bubble years at the start of the decade, to crisis, and then stabilization. Unlike salary benchmarks, there’s little transparency around equity grants. What we found is that while seed-stage equity varies widely, most early-growth companies show fairly similar patterns.”

Surprisingly, beyond the first few senior hires, the survey found no major differences in option grants across functions. Developers, marketers, and other mid-level employees received fairly similar allocations when controlling for experience—unlike the pay gap seen in salaries between technical and non-technical staff in high tech.

At Israeli seed startups, senior engineers typically receive over 0.5%, while mid-level engineers are usually granted 0.15%–0.25%. Junior engineers average 0.08%, and non-technical junior staff around 0.06%. Tech directors generally receive 0.45%–0.5%, similar to non-technical VPs such as marketing or sales heads. In contrast, non-technical directors receive only ~0.2%. As companies grow, Stein notes, the variance decreases: “With more resources and stability, there’s less need for extraordinary equity packages. Over time, averages converge back to industry norms.”

What About the U.S.?

Several comprehensive surveys have been conducted in recent years. Kruze Consulting reports that the first hire at a startup typically receives 0.5%–4%, with the median around 1.5%. The second hire averages 0.85%, while the fifth drops to ~0.34%. Data from Pave suggests that a founding engineer usually gets 0.33%–1.32%, depending on market and stage. According to Holloway, a lead engineer often receives 0.5%–1%, while senior engineers get 0.33%–0.66%. Meanwhile, reports from Carta and Ravio show that company-wide option pools generally range from 5% to 20% of total equity, typically set during Seed and Series A.

The picture shifts dramatically in artificial intelligence. According to Business Insider, U.S. AI startups are offering leading AI engineers and executives unusually generous packages—2%–5% of company equity, even as early as Series A. Combined with base salaries of $300,000–$400,000 annually, these grants underscore the fierce competition for scarce AI talent. Unlike “regular” startups, where equity percentages fall rapidly with each funding round, AI companies are ceding much larger stakes to secure the human capital needed for technological advantage.

[Main image credit: Omer Cohen]