Want to learn the best business insights from remarkable speakers at Slush 2023, but don’t have the time to watch the full speeches on YouTube?
You’ve come to the right place. Below is a summary of a speech by Michelle Coventry, Head of Talent of Creandum and Lisa Smith, CEO and co-founder of Pre Wave.
(psst: the notes were automatically generated with Wudpecker's AI notetaking tool. If you'd like to check these notes + transcript + audio recording without needing to log in, press here.)
Introduction and Overview of the Presentation
- Michelle Coventry, the head of talent at Creandum, one of Europe's top VC firms, presents a discussion on founder compensation and ESOP (Employee Stock Option Plan).
- The presentation covers data collected from 700 founders across almost 50 cities in Europe, combined with last year's data, providing around 1200 data points.
- Michelle explains that the report will cover various aspects such as salary by stage and funding, bonuses, location, industry, gender, time spent, and ownership.
Key Findings from the Data
- Founder salaries have generally decreased, with bonuses being rare. The UK has the highest median salary in Europe.
- There is a significant gender pay gap, with female founders earning less than their male counterparts. This disparity increases from the pre-seed stage onwards.
- Founders in B2B and fintech industries experienced a 6% increase in salaries, while those in the consumer industry saw a decrease of 2%.
- The average and median salaries plateau for companies with 50 to 200 employees, indicating that founder salaries do not necessarily increase linearly with company growth.
Personal Experience: Lisa Smith from Pre Wave
- Lisa Smith, CEO and co-founder of Pre Wave, joins the discussion to share her personal experience with founder compensation.
- Lisa discusses how the perspective on remuneration changes once a founder has a family to support. She shares her experience of selling a small portion of her shares to financially support her mother, who helps with childcare.
- She also stresses the importance of setting team salaries and discusses the challenges of bringing on new executive talent.
Future Considerations and Action Items
- Michelle highlights the upcoming EU directive on paid transparency, advising founders to prepare for increased salary reporting requirements.
- She also emphasizes the need to collect more data for series B female founders and commits to making changes in this area.
- Finally, Michelle encourages founders to explore secondary options to sell a small part of their shares in later rounds to provide financial support for personal needs.
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