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MKT1 SEED & SERIES A MARKETING BENCHMARKS - FEBRUARY 2022
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% Ownership (Shares Granted / Total Shares Outsanding)
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Level & average years of experienceBay Area & NYC Salary*Low EquityTypical EquityHigh Equity
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Typical at Series A, Low at SeedAt seed and Series A with ~<$100M valuationsExpect only at Seed
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Junior$80,000 - $120,0000.03%0.07%0.20%
*Note rows 7 & 8 updated since published based on feedback
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1-3 years
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Mid / Manager / Lead$110,000 - $160,0000.10%0.25%0.40%
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3-7 years
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Senior / Director / Head of$140,000 - $210,0000.20%0.50%0.80%
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5-10+ years
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VP/Head of$175,000 - $240,0000.40%0.80%1.25%
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7-12+ years
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How to use: Please refer to our newsletter to make sense of this
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*Salary Note: We are not including bonus here because we don't recommend or see this frequently at early stages
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*Salary Note 2: We don't have enough data to do other locations, and not all startups do location adjustments, but there are calculators to convert salary city by city.
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^Equity Note: We recommend using % ownership to benchmark at Seed and Series A, and current value at Series B and later.
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CURRENT VALUE EQUITY BENCHMARKS FOR EARLY-STAGE HEAD OF MARKETING
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% Ownership
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Post-Money Valuation0.25%0.50%0.75%1%For Head of Marketing at Seed & A:
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$15,000,000$37,500$75,000$112,500$150,000In Range
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$25,000,000$62,500$125,000$187,500$250,000Out of Range
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$50,000,000$125,000$250,000$375,000$500,000Unacceptable
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$75,000,000$187,500$375,000$562,500$750,000Unlikely/Really High
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$100,000,000$250,000$500,000$750,000$1,000,000
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$150,000,000$375,000$750,000$1,125,000$1,500,000
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How to use: Valuations impact what equity you will be offered (the higher the valuation, the lower your equity % will likely be). This chart shows how % ownership, post-money valuation, and notional value are related, and what currentl values are in range for a Head of Marketing.
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Current Market Value = Preferred Price at latest round * Number of Shares Granted
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If you don't have preferred price, use formula: Preferred price = Post-money valuation / total shares outsanding
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Note: you can adjust the % ownership ranges and post-money valuations to get a better sense of current value ranges for your role
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CALUCATING THE "VALUE" OF YOUR EQUITY OFFER
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ThingNumberWhere to findNotes
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Shares granted75,000In offerTypically vests over 4 years with 1 year cliffType in
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Post-Money Valuation$75,000,000Ask forPost-money valuation at last round (not pre-money)Formula - Don't touch!
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Preferred price at last round$3Ask for or calculatePreferred price = post-money valuation/shares outstanding
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Strike price$0.50In offeraka exercise price or FMV
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Current value per share$2.5FormulaPreferred price - strike price (only important if high exercise cost)
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% Ownership0.60%Ask for or calculate% ownership = Shares granted / total shares outstanding. Compare this to benchmarks.
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Total Shares outstanding12,500,000Ask for if neededNot important if you have % ownership
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Current Current "Market" Value of Equity$225,000FormulaPreferred Price at latset round * Number of Shares Granted. Use as secondary benchmark (use chart above)
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Current Current "Market" Value of Equity - Exercise Price$187,500FormulaValue at today's preferred price minus the cost you'd pay to exercise options.
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How to use: Use this as a calculator to get the equity benchmarks you need. Then compare benchmarks to top 2 charts.
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Note: You may need to update some of the formulas depending on the data points you have
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HYPOTHETICAL EXIT VALUES
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Comp For this RoleExit Value Calculations
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Equity - %Equity - Current ValueValuation at ExitNumber of Future Rounds~Dilution % / RoundExercise CostYou'd get approx...
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0.60%$225,000$500,000,000515.00%$37,500$1,293,616
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$1,000,000,000$2,624,732
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$5,000,000,000$13,273,659
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$10,000,000,000$26,584,819
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Note: These are pulled in from the Equity % and current value in calculator above, you can paste them in tooAdd in whatever exit values you want, dream big.This impacts the total dilution from future fundraising rounds. For Seed & Series A use 5-6.Everytime there's a round your % changes. 15-20% is an estimate of dilution per round. Pulls in from aboveMajor approximation. Depends on rounds, dilution, liquidiation preferences, vesting, taxes, etc. etc.
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EXAMPLE OFFERS
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TitleStageValuation at HireSalaryEquity %Equity Current "Market" ValueNotes
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VP of MarketingSeries A$60,000,000$190,0000.50%$300,000Reasonable offer, should push equity or salary up in negotiatons
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Head of Marketing/DirectorSeed$15,000,000$150,0000.75%$112,500Current value a bit low, but calculation not as useful at seed. High % ownership, so if you pick a winner this is a good offer.
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Head of Marketing/DirectorSeries A$100,000,000$175,0000.40%$400,000% ownership on low end (likely since the valuation is on the higher side), but current value is fair/high.
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Head of Marketing/DirectorSeries A$50,000,000$225,0000.40%$200,000High salary, lowish equity in terms of current
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Marketing LeadSeed$25,000,000$150,0000.40%$100,000Salaries tend to be about equaly for senior marketers at seed regardless of level, equity changes
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Note: This chart is just to show some example offers for heads of marketing roles. All of these offers are reasonable. We are trying to illustrate that lower ownership %s doesn't necessarily mean "bad offer".
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Some fine print
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This data is based on aggregated and anonymized data and may not be statistically signficant. Take it with some grains of salt.
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This is not financial advice either.
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This was last updated in February 2022
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