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📶 how much do VCs make? (2024 results)
Our latest breakdown of what you can expect to earn as a full-time investor
Clay Norris
March 28, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes
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Helping world-class investment firms build world-class investment teams
Good morning 👋
Last year we shared three years worth of VC comp data. It is still one of our most popular pieces, so we did it again.
Here’s the breakdown of our fourth annual comp survey.
This breaks down VC pay based on title, location, AUM, education, and number of years worked.
As an added bonus, we’re also sharing all of the data from this year’s survey so you can filter and get a better estimate of what other people in your seat are getting paid.
Let’s get into it.
TL;DR:
P.S. If you are hiring investors or thinking through compensation, onboarding, or training, we’d love to talk.
DATASET
More information about this year’s survey responses can be found below. For simplicity, we have grouped roles to normalize the data.
Responses came from 36 unique cities with New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles having the most responses.
 Current Title |  Fund AUM |
 Age |  Education |
SNAPSHOT
Role | Base | Bonus | Carry | Total Comp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Analyst | $72,000 | $8,000 | 0% | $80,000 |
Associate | $127,500 | $16,000 | 0% | $139,500 |
Senior Associate | $162,000 | $30,000 | 2% | $180,000 |
Principal | $150,000 | $19,000 | 2% | $180,000 |
Partner | $200,000 | $30,000 | 12% | $200,000 |
*Median figures
TAKEAWAYS
If you care about salary, do NOT work at a first-time / smaller fund. All of the respondents making the minimum / near the minimum for their position are working at smaller funds (below $50 million AUM).
If you do care about salary and bonus, find a fund with higher AUM. More AUM equals more management fees to go around, and the larger the fund, the more fees can be used on payroll.
Most associates, senior associates, and principals have MBAs; most partners do not. This could be an anomaly in our dataset, but most partners we surveyed did not have advanced degrees beyond a bachelor’s.
Most VCs do not receive meaningful carry. This has not changed from last year, and ~75% of respondents receive less than 2% of carried interest. Most of those who receive carry do not start doing so until they reach principal.
Path to partner takes longer than expected. It took 12.1 years on average for the partners in this survey to work their way to that position.
ANALYST
Fewer analysts responded to this year’s survey, but the results are lower from those who did.
Comp data
2023 | 2022 | YoY change | |
|---|---|---|---|
Salary | $72,000 | $80,000 | -10% |
Bonus | $8,000 | $15,000 | -46.67% |
Carry | 0% | 0% | N/A |
N = 3
ASSOCIATE
Associate salary numbers jumped year-over-year, but bonus numbers dipped. The overwhelming majority of associates do not get carry.
Comp data
2023 | 2022 | YoY change | |
|---|---|---|---|
Salary | $127,500 | $112,500 | +13.33% |
Bonus | $16,000 | $21,500 | -25.58% |
Carry | 0% | 0% | N/A |
N = 14
SENIOR ASSOCIATE
Senior associates are the winners from this year’s survey.
Salary, bonus, and carry all jumped from last year.
Comp data
2023 | 2022 | YoY change | |
|---|---|---|---|
Salary | $162,000 | $132,500 | +22.26% |
Bonus | $30,000 | $15,625 | +92% |
Carry | 2% | 0.25% | +700% |
N = 7
PRINCIPAL
Principal compensation remains largely unchanged from last year with the main difference coming from the jump in median bonus.
It’s also worth noting that the median compensation for principals is lower than senior associates. The data suggests this is because larger AUM funds can afford more junior investors and make them compete for upward promotions over a longer period of time (compared to smaller AUM funds who prefer to employ fewer investors and give them a piece of the carry pool earlier).
Comp data
2023 | 2022 | YoY change | |
|---|---|---|---|
Salary | $150,000 | $150,000 | N/A |
Bonus | $19,000 | $14,875 | +27.73% |
Carry | 2% | 2% | N/A |
N = 10
PARTNER
Another small dataset, so you can make out what you will from the data.
Salary and bonus numbers are what you would expect. Carry is larger than last year’s sample which could speak to the fact that funds are
Comp data
2023 | 2022 | YoY change | |
|---|---|---|---|
Salary | $200,000 | $250,000 | -20% |
Bonus | $30,000 | $10,000 | +200% |
Carry | 12% | 4% | +200% |
N = 3
POLL
How does your pay stack up? |
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REFER
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- Clay
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