Data-driven equity benchmarks for founders, employees, and investors. Know what's fair, negotiate better, and avoid expensive mistakes.
Whether you're negotiating your funding round, structuring employee grants, or evaluating a job offer, you need to know the benchmarks. This guide provides comprehensive equity data from thousands of venture-backed startups.
Explore founder ownership, employee grants, and cofounder splits with our interactive benchmarks page.
View Full Benchmarks →How much equity do founders typically own at each stage? Here's the data based on cap table analysis from thousands of venture-backed startups.
| Stage | Avg. Founder Ownership | Typical Dilution | Avg. Valuation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Seed (before raise) | 80-100% | 0% | $2-5M |
| After Pre-Seed | 65-80% | 15-25% | $5-10M |
| After Seed | 45-60% | 15-25% | $15-30M |
| After Series A | 30-45% | 15-25% | $50-100M |
| After Series B | 20-35% | 10-20% | $150-300M |
| After Series C | 15-25% | 10-15% | $400M-1B |
| At IPO | 10-20% | 5-15% | $1B+ |
Founders who start with 100% typically own 30-45% after Series A and 10-20% at IPO. The biggest dilution hits at Seed and Series A, where investors take 15-25% plus option pool expansion of 10-20%.
How much equity should you offer (or expect) as an employee? These are standard grant ranges by role and funding stage on a fully-diluted basis.
| Role | Pre-Seed | Seed | Series A |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founding Engineer (#1) | 2% - 5% | 1.5% - 3% | 0.8% - 2% |
| Early Engineer (#2-5) | 0.5% - 2% | 0.3% - 1% | 0.2% - 0.8% |
| Senior Engineer | 0.3% - 1% | 0.2% - 0.5% | 0.1% - 0.3% |
| CTO/VP Engineering | 3% - 8% | 2% - 5% | 1% - 3% |
| Head of Product/Design/Sales | 1% - 3% | 0.5% - 1.5% | 0.3% - 0.8% |
| Individual Contributor | 0.1% - 0.5% | 0.05% - 0.3% | 0.02% - 0.15% |
These ranges are on a fully-diluted basis (including the unallocated option pool). Always clarify whether an offer is on fully-diluted or outstanding shares — 1% on a fully-diluted basis is significantly less equity than 1% of just outstanding shares.
How do founders typically split equity? Here are common configurations and what happens after fundraising.
| Team Size | Most Common Split | Founders Keep (after Seed) |
|---|---|---|
| Solo founder | 100% | 60-75% |
| 2 cofounders | 50/50 or 60/40 | 30-45% each (50/50) or 36-54%/24-36% (60/40) |
| 3 cofounders | 33/33/33 or 40/30/30 | 15-25% each (equal) or varied |
| 4+ cofounders | 25/25/25/25 or 35/25/20/20 | 10-18% each |
With 3+ cofounders, individual stakes can drop below 10% after just 2 funding rounds. This creates misalignment and motivation issues. Consider whether all cofounders are truly equal contributors — use vesting cliffs to protect against deadweight.
Investors typically require an option pool for future hires. Here's what's standard at each stage and negotiation tips.
| Stage | Typical Pool Size | Who It Dilutes | Negotiation Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Seed | 0-10% | Founders | Push for 0-5% — you're too early for a large pool |
| Seed | 10-15% | Founders | Negotiate for 10% and top-up after investment |
| Series A | 10-20% | Founders | Ask for unallocated pool to roll over, not refresh |
| Series B+ | 5-10% | Everyone | Later rounds should dilute everyone proportionally |
Understanding dilution per round helps you plan your fundraising strategy. Dilution comes from two sources: the investor's equity purchase AND the option pool expansion.
| Round | Investor Equity % | Option Pool % | Total Dilution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-Seed (SAFE/Convert) | 5-15% | 0-5% | 5-20% |
| Seed (Preferred) | 15-25% | 5-10% | 20-35% |
| Series A | 15-25% | 5-10% | 20-35% |
| Series B | 10-20% | 3-5% | 13-25% |
| Series C+ | 10-15% | 2-3% | 12-18% |
Always negotiate the option pool size BEFORE the investment. If you negotiate after, you're diluting yourself twice. Ask for unallocated pool to roll over to future rounds rather than refreshing at each round.
Use this data to:
See exactly how dilution affects your ownership across multiple funding rounds. Model your cap table and understand your equity trajectory.
Try Dilution Timeline Free → Get Premium Equity Report →These are industry standards based on aggregated data from thousands of startups. Your situation may vary based on location, industry, founder experience, and market conditions. Use these as starting points for negotiation, not hard rules.
It depends on your risk tolerance and the company's stage. Early-stage (Pre-Seed to Seed) offers typically favor equity over salary. Later-stage (Series C+) offers should approach market-rate salary with lower equity. Use our Equity vs Salary Calculator to model tradeoffs.
A pre-money option pool is created BEFORE the investment and dilutes only the founders. A post-money pool is created AFTER and dilutes both founders AND the new investor. Insist on pre-money pools to avoid double-dilution.
Compare your offer to the benchmarks above by role and stage. Also consider the company's traction, team quality, and exit potential. Use our Offer Analyzer to evaluate your full compensation package.