Executive equity at seed and Series A

If you’re early stage and budget is tight, you may not be able to afford a senior hire’s market rate. So how you handle equity now decides whether the good candidates say yes, and whether you end up regretting it three years down the line.

This guide covers the four things that need thinking about before the process starts: how much to give, on what terms, how to set it up tax-efficiently in the UK, and the mistakes to avoid. The percentages come from my own benchmarks, which are for consumer startups at seed and Series A.

How much

These are the typical ranges for a first senior hire in each role, as a percentage of fully diluted share capital.

CFO: 0.75% to 2% at seed, 0.4% to 1% at Series A. See the CFO benchmarks.

COO: 0.75% to 2% at seed, 0.4% to 1% at Series A. See the COO benchmarks. A COO who’s effectively a late co-founder or the founder’s number two can sit above this.

CMO: 0.5% to 1.25% at seed, 0.2% to 0.75% at Series A. See the CMO benchmarks.

Head of Customer: 0.3% to 1% at seed, 0.15% to 0.5% at Series A. This role is usually under-equitised relative to its impact on retention.

The Series A ranges are lower and narrower because there’s less risk and the salary is closer to market.

Later on the grants get smaller again. From Series C, a CFO typically gets about 0.1% to 0.4%.

Dilution matters too. Every round after the grant issues new shares, so a 1% grant at Series A can be about 0.6% to 0.7% by Series C. Judge a percentage alongside the rounds still to come.

The terms

The standard is four years, with a one-year cliff and monthly vesting after that. In practice, nothing vests in the first twelve months, so if the hire doesn’t work out and they leave inside a year, they take nothing. At twelve months a quarter of the grant vests in one go, and from then on they’d earn a forty-eighth of it each month.

Equity is usually the most important lever an early-stage founder has. Salary buys someone’s time, but equity buys alignment. It gives everyone involved a real upside to work towards, and it gives a senior hire a reason to care about the outcome the same way you do. So be careful with the instinct to be stingy with it. If you’ve found someone exceptional, be generous, but make them earn it. That means a cliff and a vesting schedule, and if you want to go further, performance hurdles tied to the things that matter are totally reasonable.

You want them as incentivised as you are, and for that to last. It’s a four-year commitment on both sides so be sure about the fit before you’re negotiating the percentage.

Setting it up in the UK: EMI

For UK startups, Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) are worth discussing with your accountant or share-scheme adviser when putting an equity offer together. EMI options can offer tax advantages where the company, employee and grant meet the qualifying conditions. From a hiring perspective, the practical point is to get the structure checked early, so you can explain the offer clearly to a candidate.

I use and recommend Vestd for the cap table, the EMI valuation and the HMRC filings. That’s a referral link: if you sign up through it you can get up to £1k discount. SeedLegals and Ledgy do the same job if you’d rather.

Ways to go wrong

1. Granting from a pool that doesn’t exist yet. Agree the option pool with your investors before you promise anyone a percentage. A 1% grant from a 10% pool is very different from a 1% grant when there’s no pool and it comes out of the founders’ shares.

2. Quoting a percentage without saying what it’s of. “1%” of fully diluted capital today isn’t the same as 1% after the round you’re about to raise. Experienced candidates will know the difference, so they’ll likely ask.

3. Treating the cliff as optional. A one-year cliff is a perfectly reasonable condition and should apply to everyone however senior. Don’t let enthusiasm for - or pressure from - a candidate talk you out of it.

4. Leaving it until the offer. By the time the offer letter goes out, equity should already be agreed. When Suma runs a search, these conversations happen throughout the process so there are no surprises at the end.

Common questions

How much equity should I ask for when joining a startup?

It depends most on stage and role. Suma’s ranges for UK consumer brands, as a share of fully diluted equity, are 0.75% to 2.0% at seed, 0.4% to 1.0% at Series A and 0.25% to 0.75% at Series B for a CFO or COO. CMOs sit a little lower: 0.5% to 1.25%, 0.2% to 0.75% and 0.15% to 0.5%. Ask what the percentage is of, how big the option pool is and how it vests. A lower salary justifies the top of the range.

Sources: Suma equity benchmarks (suma.ventures/guides/executive-equity, /market/cfo-salary, /coo-salary, /cmo-salary).

Is 1% equity in a startup good?

For a CFO or COO, 1% is the top of Suma’s Series A range of 0.4% to 1.0%, and the lower half of the seed range of 0.75% to 2.0%. For a CMO it’s generous at Series A, where the range is 0.2% to 0.75%. Bear in mind that 1% shrinks as the company raises more money: a 1% grant at Series A can be about 0.6% to 0.7% by Series C. Judge it alongside the salary, the valuation and the vesting terms.

Sources: Suma equity benchmarks; dilution example from Exact Partners, Startup CFO guide (2026).

Is 7% equity a lot for a startup executive?

Yes, for a hired executive. Suma sees the largest grants going to hired CEOs, typically 2% to 5% at seed. A CFO or COO typically gets 0.75% to 2% at seed and 0.4% to 1% at Series A, with CMOs a little lower. Anything well beyond those ranges is founder-level equity. It only makes sense for someone who joins before any funding, takes little or no salary and carries a founder-sized role, and it should come with vesting and clear expectations.

Sources: Suma equity benchmarks (suma.ventures/market/ceo-salary, /cfo-salary, /coo-salary, /cmo-salary).

How does startup equity compensation work?

Startup equity is usually granted as share options over a percentage of fully diluted equity, vesting over four years with a one-year cliff. At seed, a CFO or COO typically gets 0.75% to 2.0% and a CMO 0.5% to 1.25%, with smaller grants at each later stage. In the UK, Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) options can be tax-advantaged where the company and employee qualify, and for grants from 6 April 2026 the scheme covers companies with up to £120m in gross assets and 500 employees.

Sources: Suma equity benchmarks; HMRC EMI policy paper (Jan 2026).

How much equity does a startup CFO get?

A startup CFO typically gets 0.75% to 2.0% of fully diluted equity at seed, 0.4% to 1.0% at Series A and 0.25% to 0.75% at Series B, falling to about 0.1% to 0.4% from Series C. From hiring these roles, Suma sees COO grants as very similar and CMO grants a little lower. Dilution matters too: a 1% grant at Series A can be about 0.6% to 0.7% by Series C. Grants usually vest over four years with a one-year cliff.

Sources: Suma equity benchmarks; Series C+ range and dilution example from Exact Partners (2026).

If you’ve got a senior hire in progress and want a second opinion on the package, book a Senior Hire Review.