$132K - $149K, HERE'S WHAT SEED-STAGE FOUNDERS PAY EARLY EMPLOYEES, BASED ON DATA

Summary from the TLDR Founders newsletter

Kruze Consulting's analysis of seed-stage startups shows founders' salaries are generally lower than engineering roles, with CEOs earning $132,000 and CTOs $134,000. Senior engineers in the Bay Area can make between $180,000 and $235,000, while initial employee equity ranges from 0.5% to 4% based on Carta data. Founders typically increase their pay after raising further investment rounds.