Average Equity Grant to CFO's at PE/VC Portfolio Company's

1-2% is most common for series A companies. A few years back I was given some very detailed info from a VC that showed, for non-founders, the average grant was 1.25%. I don't know what their source was for the data, but every VC I have ever worked with has data from some comp firm along these lines. 5% would be for very early stage rock star additions. Almost unheard of unless they are simply core to the whole company. Besides that, 1-2%

Having worked in several equity-backed companies, the answer falls into 2 categories: 1) Grants of stock in the form of options or SARs that vest over time and 2) purchase of stock that have performance-based vesting privileges. In the first case, the average range is between 1% and 2% for the CFO, double that for the CEO. In the second case you are asked to invest along with the equity partners and share their risk. In that case, the award is usually higher, in the range of 5% to 8%. Performance incentives are usually more generous, in some cases allowing a doubling of the equity percentage. Another benefit that arises from risking your own money by purchasing shares is the opportunity to have the gain on exit treated as a capital gain as opposed to ordinary income. In any situation, competent tax and legal advice should be taken.

I have found the grants to be between 1 to 1.5% depending on the stage of the company. And the CEO is generally 5% plus