How much should founders pay themselves?
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Christoph Janz

Founder Salary Calculator - How much should founders pay themselves?

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Six years after the initial release of the P9 Founder Salary Calculator, we've joined forces with Figures to release a new version, updating the methodology and adjusting it based on market data from more than 700 data points collected across Europe.

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Christoph Janz
Maker
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Several years ago, I did a bit of research into founder compensation and created a simple model that calculates what a typical founder salary might look like based on a few input factors. Since the post is now more than five years old and got a little rusty, I thought it was time for an update! The analysis is based on more than 700 data points provided by Figures. Figures collects live data from 1000+ start-ups and later-stage tech companies across Europe by connecting to its clients' HRIS APIs.
Antoni Kozelski
@chrija Congratulations on the launch of the Founder's Salary Calculator! 🎉 Your fantastic tool gives us an easy way to calculate a typical salary We wish you great success💪
Christoph Janz
Maker
@antonikozelski Thank you! Glad you find it useful!
Roberto Gómez - Scalar.so
thanks! very useful Christoph! Why do you think a founder with kids should be pay more? If you take the decision of not having kids, why can't you get the same pay and just live better? For me it's the same to how many hours should you work, if you have kids it's more understandable that you can leave the office however if you decide not to have them, you are expected to stay more. Why can't you leave at the same time and just enjoy your hobbies, rest etc.?
Christoph Janz
Maker
@roberjet Thank you for your comment! Especially at the seed stage, founders often pay themselves very low salaries in order to keep as much cash for the company. As a 25 year old single who doesn't do much besides working and sleeping, you don't need a lot of money anyway. :-) That changes when you have kids, and the idea of the "kids bonus" tries to address that. I'm aware that it's controversial, and maybe unexpected to come from a venture capitalist, since it's a somewhat non-capitalist idea (compensation based on needs vs. performance). :-) In the end, it is of course up to the founder team to decide. It's just a suggestion which may work for some teams and may not work for others.
Roberto Gómez - Scalar.so
@chrija yeah, I get that! Obviously the idea is to preserve the most cash for the company, so that you pay yourself the absolute needed. But maybe there is a conversation there around why to pay you well so that you can, Idk, start looking for a house and have more financial stability in a period of many uncertainty (kids are obviously out of debate, but I feel there are other things)
Ryan Taylor
@chrija @roberjet I think we need to get out of the mindset that founders are only 20-somethings without kids; there is incredible talent out there who have families that need to be considered. If someone is happy at home, i.e. reduced financial stress, there is (for me) a direct correlation to performance at work. Better performance at work means a better company/product. Tl:dr Intangibles that motivate individuals cannot be reduced to a balance sheet. Thanks for sharing this data, @chrija. It's really valuable.
Dora Pav
@roberjet I thought absolutely the same. I was a bit surprised to see this question. To be honest, if the calculator included other factors (such as owning a home or rent), or years of experience, or something like that, I think the data would be much more reliable. Anyways, it's a great starting tool. Thanks for it and congratulations on the launch! @chrija
Irina I.
Upvoted, good luck!
Alex Petruchio
Congrats on the launch! 🚀🚀🚀
Shital Gohil
Congratulations on the launch! This tool is an amazing and precisely what every founder has been looking for. The age-old conundrum of determining a founder's salary seems to have found its solution. Thank you for creating this!
Vincent Lonij
This is amazing! And thank you for making this free to use and not hide it behind an email harvester. 😁 Based on my admittedly limited personal data the numbers seem quite good.
Oleg from FirstHR
Best of luck, upvoted!
Richard Warren
Do salaries change based on the specialism of the founder? E.g. perhaps technical founders earn more?
Richard Warren
Would be strange to have different salaries between a founding team but interested if having a different opportunity cost changes anything
Dmitriy Pegov
Upvoted. Congrats!
Vasiliy Berenkov
You have my support. Good luck, guys!
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