Salary Levels for Entry-Level VC

What are the average salary levels like for associate positions in the top venture capital firms?

And is there a difference in terms of compensation between the East Coast and West Coast?

 
Best Response
big_dreams_banker:
I have no personal experience in this field...and this is a large range...but prolly between 40-55K would seem appropriate (bonus not included).

40-55k for post-IBD associate positions? Sounds a bit low. I recall VCMonkey stating something in another thread previously about this:

VCmonkey:
From my informal conversations with people in the venture industry salaries are approximately as listed below: (Base/Performance Bonus/Deal Sourcing Bonus*/Carry) Analyst: 60,000/30,000/5-10,000/0 Associate: 100,000/50,000/10-20,000/0 VP: 200,000-250,000/?/?/0M-1M** Principal/Junior MD: 500,000/?/?/1M-2M*** MD: 1M/?/?/3M-9M*** *Deal sourcing means finding and executing an investment opportunity **VP carry based on performance of portfolio companies with board level representation only (i.e. not carry of all companies in portfolio)
***MDs are typically compensated based on performance on entire portfolio

This was almost exactly 2 years ago, however, and I'm not sure how much has changed from 2007 to 2009. Can anybody help out in this regard?

 
big_dreams_banker:
I have no personal experience in this field...and this is a large range...but prolly between 40-55K would seem appropriate (bonus not included).

Who gives a rats ass about your random guesses? YOu obviously know nothing, yet you still try to muddy the waters.

If you don't know - don't pull something out of your ass.

ideating:
Post 2 years IBD, about 90-130k base, 20-50k bonus. Trajectory is awful (for finance).

Who is that clown who said 40-55k?

ideating, could you elaborate on the context of your data? i.e. firm, AUM, size, etc.?

And in terms of saying "Trajectory is awful," are you simply saying that VC salaries are comparatively lower to other post-IBD buy-side positions in PE and HF?

 

As I understand it, VC actually works differently than other finance jobs; typically the better the firm, the less the initial compensation. It's an admittedly small sample size I'm drawing from but VC itself is a pretty small sample.

Trajectory refers to the ramp up in comp as you gain experience (think 3-5 years).

cdkram:
ideating:
Post 2 years IBD, about 90-130k base, 20-50k bonus. Trajectory is awful (for finance).

Who is that clown who said 40-55k?

ideating, could you elaborate on the context of your data? i.e. firm, AUM, size, etc.?

And in terms of saying "Trajectory is awful," are you simply saying that VC salaries are comparatively lower to other post-IBD buy-side positions in PE and HF?

 

VC comp unfortunately is really haphazard. For very large firms, I think the pay is overall more structured since it's benchmarked against PE. So I would guess they would make ~75-80% of what a post MBA PE associate would make.

Early stage firms are really hard to benchmark, since there are so few people. I would say the comp for post MBA associates is closer to the top end of the range you mentioned than the bottom. carry is not always given to senior associates but it happens reasonably often, and almost always if it's a partner track position.

 

I mean I do think it is pretty reasonable, albeit on the slightly lower side. I felt that 70-75k base + 35% bonus for a 1st/2nd year analyst would have been more in line with the industry. Although I guess when you consider I'm in a 2nd/3rd tier city, at a smaller fund, and am only a half year into my first year, maybe my expectations were too high to start. Perhaps it might be more reasonable to be expecting those numbers after next year...

 

Can't answer PMs as I don't have enough banana points. I merely made this account to protect my identity as I don't want people I work with/know to see that I'm asking these types of questions (as some of my previous posts on my main may give away who I am). Please try to stick to topic (if you do have specific questions, PM me and I'll msg you from my main).

 

You might be a little underpaid if you're working at a true VC, even in a tier 2/3 market. I knew someone at a smaller firm in a tier 2 domestic market that was making 70-80 + bonus.

 

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