Design optimal team structures, hiring plans, compensation strategies, and equity allocation for early-stage startups from pre-seed through Series A.
Design optimal team structures, hiring plans, compensation strategies, and equity allocation for early-stage startups from pre-seed through Series A.
resources/implementation-playbook.md.Build the right team at the right time with appropriate compensation and equity. Plan role-by-role hiring aligned with revenue milestones, budget constraints, and market benchmarks.
Team Size: 2-5 people
Core Roles:
Focus: Build and validate product-market fit
Team Size: 5-15 people
Key Hires:
Focus: Scale product and prove repeatable sales
Team Size: 15-50 people
Department Build-Out:
Focus: Scale revenue and build repeatable processes
Pre-Seed:
Seed:
Series A:
Pre-Seed:
Seed:
Series A:
Pre-Seed:
Seed:
Series A:
Pre-Seed:
Seed:
Series A:
Pre-Seed:
Seed:
Series A:
Engineering:
Sales:
Product:
Marketing:
Customer Success:
Total Comp = Base Salary × 1.30 (benefits & taxes) + Equity Value
Fully-Loaded Cost:
Rule of Thumb: Multiply base salary by 1.3-1.4 for fully-loaded cost
San Francisco / New York: +20-30% above benchmarks Seattle / Boston / Los Angeles: +10-20% Austin / Denver / Chicago: +0-10% Remote / Other US Cities: -10-20% International: Varies widely by country
Founders:
Early Employees (Pre-Seed):
Seed Stage Hires:
Series A Hires:
Option Pool by Round:
Pre-Funding Dilution: Investors often require option pool creation before investment, diluting founders.
Example:
Pre-money: $10M
Investors want 15% option pool post-money
Calculation:
Post-money: $15M ($10M + $5M investment)
Option pool: $2.25M (15% × $15M)
Founders diluted by pool creation before new money
Pre-Seed:
Founders (flat structure)
├── Contractors
└── First hires (report to founders)
Seed:
CEO
├── Engineering Lead (2-4 engineers)
├── Sales/Growth Lead (1-2 reps)
├── Product Manager
└── Operations
Series A:
CEO
├── CTO / VP Engineering (6-20 people)
│ ├── Engineering Manager(s)
│ └── Individual Contributors
├── VP Sales (5-15 people)
│ ├── Sales Manager
│ ├── Account Executives
│ └── SDRs
├── Head of Product (2-5 people)
│ ├── Product Managers
│ └── Designers
├── Head of Customer Success (2-5 people)
└── CFO / Finance Lead (2-5 people)
├── Recruiter
└── Operations
Manager Ratios:
Full-Time:
Contract:
Role Opening to Hire:
Time to Productivity:
Always add 2-3 months buffer to hiring plans.
Example: If need engineer by July 1:
Early Stage (Seed):
Growth Stage (Series A):
Total Comp Budget = Σ (Role Count × Fully-Loaded Cost × % of Year)
Example:
3 Engineers × $202K × 100% = $606K
2 AEs × $230K × 75% (mid-year start) = $345K
1 PM × $162K × 100% = $162K
Total: $1.1M
references/compensation-benchmarks.md - Detailed salary data by role, level, and locationreferences/equity-calculator.md - Equity sizing formulas and dilution scenariosexamples/seed-stage-hiring-plan.md - Complete hiring plan for seed-stage SaaS companyexamples/org-chart-evolution.md - Organizational design from 5 to 50 peopleTo plan team composition:
For detailed compensation benchmarks and hiring plan templates, see references/ and examples/.