Startup compensation is often an opaque and awkward topic for first-time academic founders. How much equity do I receive? My CEO? The PI(s)? Other co-founders? How will my choices affect future compensation? The truth is, equity allotment is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. And as the data shows, there are a few roles that have an outsized impact on an academic spinout’s cap table. Considering the following strategies and investigating all compensation tools at your disposal can help create a productive balance of incentives and cost. 

The following observations are based on collective insights from a decade of working with hundreds of founders and an analysis of the equity structures of over 90 university spinouts.

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