Founder compensation varies drastically by industry and cannot be judged by salary alone. For instance, healthcare founders' average salary of $168k is below the overall average. However, their bonuses average $870k, far exceeding the total bonus average of $332k, making it the top industry for bonuses.
Across C-suite roles like marketing, product, and tech, base salaries are clustered between $120k-$200k. The significant differentiator is performance bonuses. Heads of Sales see the largest impact, with an average bonus of $125k on top of a $157k salary, effectively doubling their total compensation.
Beyond salary, many founders use the business to cover personal expenses, effectively increasing their compensation. Founders reported expensing 50% of their rent, Wi-Fi, and gym memberships, while others leverage business credit card points for thousands in monthly cash back—value not reflected on pay stubs.
Data reveals a counter-intuitive trend in founder compensation. Bootstrapped founders have the highest average take-home pay at $650k, while Series B founders have the lowest at $260k. This challenges the assumption that more venture funding directly translates to higher personal earnings for founders in the growth stages.
While 8% of founders pay themselves nothing to maximize reinvestment for a future exit, this strategy is often regretted. Even among founders who achieved a multi-million dollar exit, many later wished they had paid themselves at least a small salary to improve their quality of life during the building phase.