Advisor Compensation Survey
How much and how should Advisors be paid?
Please participate in our Advisor Compensation Survey
In collaboration with Berkeley SkyDeck, I’m conducting a Survey of Founders and Advisors to understand how they think of compensation for Advisors and help better negotiate acceptable agreements.
The Google form for the survey is here. We are canvassing on preferences for quantity and kind of compensation (stock, equity) advisors feel is fair and companies are willing to pay. If you’re a Founder, Advisor, or Board Member, we’d like to include your perspective.
We’ll keep your answers anonymous, email results to everyone who responds, and publish them here.
In an addendum to their recent Carta State of Startup Compensation H2 2023, Carta provides excellent data on Advisor Comp, but it is limited to equity. Though it might color your answers to our survey, I reproduce some of their findings here:
Many companies default to the guidelines laid out in the FAST document (Founder / Advisor Standard Template). The starting point is usually 0.25% of fully diluted company equity. That’s the whole grant, not annual.
‌But company industry comes into play, even at this nascent stage. The median grant for Biotech advisors is 0.29% which compares favorably to the 0.20% median for SaaS startups.
Reporting Results
I’ll publish the results of the Survey here in the next several weeks once it’s completed. Please feel free to forward this article or post the link to the survey on social media so we can increase our reach. Here’s a blurb you can forward:
Berkeley SkyDeck and Marc Meyer (Chair of the Advisor Council, Art of the Start), are teaming up on this survey of Advisors and Founders to understand how they think of Compensation for Advising, and help negotiate price, means, and terms. We'll share results of the Survey with everyone who fills out their email and will maintain anonymity. Please participate and help us by reposting the survey.
Thanks for your help!
Marc Meyer is a Silicon Valley technologist, founder (6 startups, 4 exits, 1 IPO), engineer, executive, investor, advisor, teacher, and coach. He has invested in and advised over 150 companies. He advises and works with accelerators and funds including Alchemist, 500 Startups, HBS Alumni Angels, and Berkeley SkyDeck, where he chairs the Advisor Council and heads the Level Up Series on Advisor Education.
Marc runs an Executive Coaching and Advising practice helping leaders achieve their greatest potential.