This skill should be used when the user asks to "plan team structure", "determine hiring needs", "design org chart", "calculate compensation", "plan equity allocation", or requests organizational design and headcount planning for a startup.
Design optimal team structures, hiring plans, compensation strategies, and equity allocation for early-stage startups from pre-seed through Series A.
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/.