Back to questions

What the average annual CEO salary rate (SAAS, Fintech, or B2B CRM) during the early stage (pre-seed, seed) in SV?

Vanessa Kruze, CPA, is a leading expert in startup taxes and tax compliance. Her team at Kruze Consulting has filed thousands of tax returns for companies that have raised billions in VC funding, and her work has been diligenced by leading VCs, attorneys, and M&A teams at the largest technology companies.

Vanessa Kruze, a highly-experienced CPA, brings valuable tax expertise to startups, drawing from her rich background at Deloitte Tax and as a financial controller for a $20 million startup. As the leader of Kruze Consulting, recognized multiple times in the Inc 5000 list, she specializes in navigating the complex tax landscape for startups. Her firm is known for delivering precise and strategic tax solutions, delivering tax credits utilizing advanced tools to ensure compliance and optimize tax benefits for startups throughout the United States.

Visit author page

Table of contents

My team and I handle payroll, taxes and the accounting for seed and venture-funded startups, and we analyzed CEO pay at over 125 startups; most of them in Silicon Valley. The average CEO pay for seed funded startups is $119,000 - but it does vary by industry. This chart breaks down seed funded CEO salary by industry:

What-the-average-annual-CEO-salary-rate-SAAS-Fintech-or-B2B-CRM-during-the-early-stage-pre-seed-seed-in-SV

I don’t have data on B2B CRM companies, but do have the data on seed funded Fintech and SaaS company pay:

Fintech: $124,000
SaaS: $113,000

I’d have to imagine that seed funded B2B CRM CEOs get paid about the same.

The question also asks about pre-seed CEO pay. My company only works with companies that have raised real seed funding, so my dataset starts to get less robust. However, quickly looking at numbers that I do have, over half of the companies did not pay their CEO anything before the seed round. So I’d say that the media pre-seed CEO pay is zero. The average appears to be $40,000, but it is very common for pre-seed CEOs to not get paid anything.

I’ve got more info on Startup CEO Pay on my firm’s blog - hope that this was helpful!

Categories:

Venture Capital Startup Finance

View this question on Quora

Top Articles

READY TO CONNECT FOR A FREE CONSULTATION?

We are the experts at helping seed/VC-backed Delaware C-Corps with their accounting and finances!

Talk to an experienced accountant, not a generic sales person

Alex Janeck

Edith Silva

Randy Hall

$250M+ VC Funding Raised

"I had a great experience working with Kruze Consulting when we raised Series A. They know what VCs need to see, and how to present a startup’s books and finances. If you are going to raise venture capital, you need experts like Kruze."

Chris Mansi

CEO

Startup Venture Capital Assistance

With former venture capitalists on staff, our team is here to help you navigate the fundraising process and manage your board of directors

Scott Orn
COO | Former VC

Healy Jones
VP FP&A | Former VC

Scale Remote Operations & Team

"Kruze has supported us above and beyond basic accounting needs by ensuring we have everything we need to expand and support our team wherever they may be located"

Zack Fisch

Head of Operations & Legal

Clients who have worked with Kruze have collectively raised over $15 billion in VC funding.

We set startups up for fundrising success, and know how to work with the top VCs.

Vanessa Kruze, CPA
Founder & CEO

Experienced team helping you

Our account management team is staffed by CPAs and accountants who have, on average, 11 years of experience.

Bill Hollowsky, CPA
VP of Accounting Services

Claudine Vantomme, CPA
Controller

Morgan Avery
SUT/R&D Sr. Tax Accountant

Beth Bassler
Controller, CPA

Grew from a 2-person startup to a NASDAQ listed public company.

"The Kruze team helped us grow from a 2-person startup to a NASDAQ listed public company in 2 years. We wouldn’t have gotten public without Kruze’s support. Anyone thinking of launching a startup should make Vanessa their first call!"

Jesse Shefferman

CEO

Get in Touch

Please help us connect with you

Full name

Company name

How can we reach you?

Our first response is typically via email, so please check your inbox.

Phone number

I agree to receive marketing emails from Kruze Consulting

Help us have a productive first consultation by providing some additional information.

What year was your startup incorporated?

(please enter YYYY such as 2021 - an estimate is fine!)

What is your stage of funding?

(pick up from the list)

Stage of funding

Approximately how much funding have you raised?

(please enter a dollar value such as 5000000)

Funding raised

Help us understand what you are looking for:

(Optional, click the ones you need)

Monthly Accounting / Bookkeeping

Tax Help

CFO Advice

409A Valuations

Financial Technology Stack Setup

Other