by Amelia Ibarra | Oct 26, 2023 | Artificial Intelligence (AI), Blog Posts, Compensation, Featured Videos, Hiring, Podcasts, Product, Tech News, Videos, What's New At |
Discover what’s new at Greenhouse, a $200M ARR recruiting software company. CEO and co-founder Daniel Chait and SaaStr founder and CEO Jason Lemkin discuss AI, trends in the market, getting bought by PE, and much more.
by Jason Lemkin | Oct 19, 2023 | Blog Posts, Compensation, Early, Fundraising, Leadership, Q&A |
Dear SaaStr: How do VCs Really Feel About Founder Salaries? I Was Told That a General Rule of Thumb is 75% of Market The 75% Rule once you are VC Funded for more than a few million dollars is a good one. But if you raise less than that — 75% may well be too...
by Jason Lemkin | Sep 18, 2023 | Blog Posts, Compensation, Fundraising, Growth, Human Resources, Q&A |
Dear SaaStr: What Percentage of Shares Should Be Set Aside for Employee Equity? Nuanced answer: A lot. But, the precise number today doesn’t matter. At a practical level, if you are growing quickly, you’ll typically grant 6-8% a year in additional grants (and...
by Jason Lemkin | Aug 15, 2023 | Blog Posts, Compensation, Growth, Leadership, Q&A |
Dear SaaStr: What are the typical components of an Outside (non-Founder) CEO’s compensation? How are CEO contracts typically structured? I’ll answer this from a start-up perspective, and assume you mean bringing in an outside CEO to run your start-up....
by Jason Lemkin | Jul 15, 2023 | Blog Posts, Compensation, Early, Leadership, Q&A |
Dear SaaStr: Who Should Approve Startup CEO Expenses? I would have the board approve CEO salary, all material expenses (>$5k-$10k), and an overall CEO expense policy. And in fact, once you have VC investors, this is often required in your Investor Rights...
by Jason Lemkin | Jul 10, 2023 | Blog Posts, Compensation, Early, Fundraising, Q&A |
Dear SaaStr: Should I exercise my stock company stock options if they are $7 underwater? Stock options can be really unfair to employees by their nature. Almost no one has the facts to actually know what to do what them. And fewer still even have the financial...
by Jason Lemkin | Jun 16, 2023 | Blog Posts, Compensation |
So Carta recently put together some data on a topic I’ve wondered about: just how many startups allow option exercises beyond the traditional 90-day window? The answer: the general trend is just over 10% of startups have extended windows beyond the traditional 90...
by Jason Lemkin | Jun 13, 2023 | Blog Posts, Compensation, Early, Growth, Q&A |
Dear SaaStr: Does paying higher salaries increase employee retention? Yes, if their salaries are unfair, unequal, or below market. Otherwise — maybe not. Here’s what I’ve learned across 3 startups of my own, and investing in 25+ more: Underpaying certainly leads to...
by Jason Lemkin | Jun 3, 2023 | Blog Posts, Compensation, Hiring, Human Resources |
Your very, very best people are even better than you think they Dig in and you’ll see they are doing even more great things than you realize * Let them run* Help them hire* Let them make the mistake* Wait to top them* Thank them* Pay them — Jason ✨Be Kind✨...
by Jason Lemkin | May 8, 2023 | Blog Posts, Compensation, Q&A |
Dear SaaStr: Is it rude to ask for a raise when there’s no salary increase coming up at work place after six months of joining? In a Big Company, in my limited experience, I do think you need to be thoughtful here. There are rules. You can threaten to leave once and...
by Jason Lemkin | May 6, 2023 | Blog Posts, Career Growth & Advice, Compensation, Growth, Q&A, Sales |
Dear SaaStr: As a salesperson, if you sell a multi-year SaaS deal, does the whole amount count towards your current year quota? Or just the part attributed to your current year? Approaches vary here. First, what you pay on vs. quota retirement can vary. On commissions...
by Jason Lemkin | Apr 27, 2023 | Blog Posts, Compensation, Human Resources |
I was curious a while back how many of the recent Cloud and SaaS IPOs had founders that were equal co-founders from an equity perspective. That was how I was brought up (the first start-up job I had, the founders were equal shareholders). And I generally thought...
by Jason Lemkin | Apr 21, 2023 | Blog Posts, Compensation, Growth |
So something quietly changed in the past few years. Maybe it was the investing craziness of late ‘20 through late ‘21. Maybe it was VCs not wanting to rock the boat. Maybe it was a lot of startups just plain not having real boards of directors. What’s changed is...
by Jason Lemkin | Apr 20, 2023 | Blog Posts, Compensation, Early, Leadership, Q&A |
Dear SaaStr: How does a CEO/founder/owner pick their salary? I’ll share my stories. In my first start-up, we raised $9m in our seed round — a large first round, but the times were different. The VCs set my salary without discussing or consulting with me...
by Jason Lemkin | Mar 23, 2023 | Career Growth & Advice, Compensation, Exit, Leadership, Q&A |
Dear SaaStr: I’m an Early Employee and Have a Chance to Sell Some of My Startup Shares. Should I? Goodness. Congratulations on the change for some liquidity. It’s both exciting — and confusing. Marc Benioff sold a huge amount of his Salesforce stock before its run...
