PrintWhere can I find salary ranges for Internet startups? The information I have found is either for non-Internet companies or only for Internet executives. I am specifically interested in salaries and benefits for business development managers and project managers.
Established firms like Hewitt Associates, the Hay Group and Watson Wyatt traditionally serve the Fortune 500 market and have great data on management pay at all levels. However, as you point out, these firms do not generally serve Internet startups, and scientific salary and stock option benchmarks are not widely available.
Since options are such an important component of the overall pay package, referencing big-company salary data will only help you gauge what a comparable all-cash offer might be. For example, you could learn that a typical director of product development makes $120,000. Then you would need to decrease that salary by 20 percent to 30 percent for an Internet startup and make up the difference with stock options.
There is another way to get information, although it's not a scientific method: simply ask. Poll venture capitalists, recruiters and candidates whenever you can, and keep track of the numbers. Even when you don't intend to make an offer to a candidate, try to find out what their current salary and option package is like. Ask contacts at firms comparable to yours what they pay their people.
