Index Ventures
OptionPlan
Entrepreneurs know how important stock options are for hiring and retaining the best talent. But to create an effective option plan you need to know how much to award to each team member. We compiled the largest ever set of benchmark data, comprising over 20,000 option grants from more than 1,650 startups across the US and Europe. We want to help you get this right.
What stage are you at?
SeedVentureSetup
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1[[ questions.q1 ]] (pre‑funding)
Question 1 notes:
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2[[ questions.q2 ]]
Question 2 notes:
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3[[ questions.q3 ]]
[[ round.label ]] Additional dilution = [[ make_percentage(1 - round.cum_dilution_after_a, 0) ]]%Question 3 notes:
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4[[ questions.q4 ]]
Warning:
Warning:
Warning:
Question 4 notes:
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5[[ questions.q5 ]]
Question 5 notes:
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6[[ questions.q6 ]]
5[[ questions.q5 ]]
[[ country.label ]][[ country.label ]][[ country.label ]]Show more Countries ([[ input_options.countries.length ]] total)Show fewer CountriesQuestion 6 5 notes:
Hiring plan
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7[[ questions.q7 ]]
6[[ questions.q6 ]]
Salaries
Role [[ roles[role].label ]] [[ sectors[sector].label ]] [[ format_dollar(inputs['salary_' + sector + '_' + role], false) ]] Edit
Question 7 6 notes:
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8[[ questions.q8 ]]
7[[ questions.q7 ]]
Option grants as % of salary
Role [[ roles[role].label ]] [[ sectors[sector].label ]] % [[ inputs['equity_' + sector + '_' + role] ]]% Edit
Question 87 notes:
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9[[ questions.q9 ]]
Total: [[ total_hiring_plan_executives.total ]] Edit
Level Hires Ownership (%) Options ($) [[ roles[role].label ]] ([[ inputs['hires_' + role + '_individual'] ]] @ [[ inputs['equity_' + role + '_individual'] ]]%) % [[ format_dollar(series_a_valuation_post_funding * (inputs['equity_' + role + '_individual']/100), false) ]] Warning:
Question 9 notes:
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8[[ questions.q8 ]]
Role [[ roles[role].label ]] [[ sectors[sector].label ]] [[ inputs['hires_' + sector + '_' + role] ]] Total: [[ total_hiring_plan_employees.total ]] EditEdit
Question 8 notes:
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10[[ questions.q10 ]]
9[[ questions.q9 ]]
Total: [[ total_hiring_plan_employees.total ]] Edit
[[ sectors[sector].label ]]
Role Hires Salary
($)Options
(% of salary)Options
($)Ownership
(%)[[ roles[role].label ]] [[ inputs['hires_' + sector + '_' + role] ]] [[ format_dollar(inputs['salary_' + sector + '_' + role], false) ]] % [[ inputs['equity_' + sector + '_' + role] ]]% [[ format_dollar(inputs['salary_' + sector + '_' + role] * (inputs['equity_' + sector + '_' + role]/100), false) ]] [[ make_percentage((inputs['salary_' + sector + '_' + role] * (inputs['equity_' + sector + '_' + role]/100)) / seed_valuation_post_funding, 3) ]]% Question 109 notes:
Analysis
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A[[ questions.aa ]]
Your stock option allocations to employees hired after Series A is [[ make_percentage(post_a_hires_equity) ]]%. Adding your (diluted) [[ round(pre_a_diluted_equity_post_a, 1) ]]% allocation to employees before Series A, and a [[ make_percentage(inputs.esop_contingency) ]]% contingency buffer, we would recommend an ESOP carve-out of [[ round(total_esop_you.value, 1) ]]% of your fully-diluted equity.
This level of employee ownership places you in between above below the [[ total_esop_you_with_2.before.label ]] and [[ total_esop_you_with_2.after.label ]] benchmark levels.
Your stock option allocations to employees hired following your seed round total [[ round(total_esop_you.value, 2) ]]% of your fully diluted equity.
Analysis A notes:
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B[[ questions.ab ]]
Based on an exit valuation of [[ format_dollar(inputs.estimated_exit_valuation) ]], executives hired at Series A would see an average pre-tax upside on their options of [[ format_dollar(upside_average.executive) ]] Other employees hired at Series A would see upside of [[ format_dollar(upside_average.employee) ]].
Based on an exit valuation of [[ format_dollar(inputs.estimated_exit_valuation) ]], team members hired at Seed stage would jointly see pre-tax upside on their options of [[ format_dollar(this.round(upside_totals.at_exit.total), true, true) ]].
Warning:
Warning:
Warning:
Analysis B notes:
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C [[ questions.ac ]]
- Role
- [[ roles[role].label ]]
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Analysis C notes:
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C [[ questions.ac ]]
D [[ questions.ad ]]
[[ sectors[sector].label ]]
- Role
- [[ roles[sector_chart.role].label ]]
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Analysis D notes:
Assumptions
The outputs here are based on a number of underlying assumptions.
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- Setup
- Hiring plan
- Results