State of Startup Compensation

Author:

Peter Walker

Read time:

1 minute

Published date:

March 20, 2025

Where oh where have these startup jobs gone?

The above graphic is from our State of Startup Compensation for H2 2024 report. 30+ charts detailing the ups and downs within compensation for startup employees.

But you can't talk about comp without starting with hiring - and as the data makes clear, many startup sectors shrunk headcount in 2024.

The ratio is simple: new hires vs departing employees. A figure of 1 means the total headcount was flat for the year. A couple points stand out from the table.

First, there was no significant rebound in headcount growth from a down 2023. Most industries continued to retract or saw headcount idle around one.

Second, the industries that are eeking out some positive headcount change tend to be real-world sectors like Hardware and Energy.

What does this mean for startup salaries? How long are employees sticking around at their current jobs? Has equity lost its luster for many startup workers?

All those answers and more in the full report.

Peter Walker

Author: Peter Walker

Peter Walker runs the Insights team at Carta, focused on discovering key data and narratives across the private capital ecosystem. In a former life, he was a marketing executive for a media analytics startup and led the data visualization team at the Covid Tracking Project.