The change trend of salary structure of management staff in American start-up companies in recent 5 years

Since 2008, the proportion of cash in the salary structure of the management staff of the start-up companies has been increasing, while the share of equity has declined. The figure two below is a list of two changes in pay for technology VP and VP of Products in the U.S. and Bay Area respectively.

In the past 5 years, the technology VP's cash remuneration has grown at 10% and 16% in two regions, while equity incentives have declined by 19% and 17% per cent. The same trend has been in the pay changes for VP products, with cash pay rising and equity incentives falling.

Above is the trend of cash remuneration (including salary and bonuses) for different positions and regions, red for Bay Area, and blue for all of America. The picture below is the change trend of equity.

The data used here are provided by hundreds of companies with investment backgrounds. The sample does not include any company founders, only the hired managers, because their data reflects real pay trends.

Reason: In recent years, investment firms or investors have invested heavily in start-ups, making them more cash-strapped, while rising housing rents and living expenses make cash-paid relativities more attractive to job seekers. However, there is no classification of the company in the sample, some of the companies that are about to break out of the start-up period are obviously more reliable than the early companies, so more analysis is needed to learn more accurate reasons.

In any case, we know that American start-ups are adjusting the pay structure of managers in different sectors, and that the proportion of cash growth is squeezing equity ratios.