Paper gains don’t count, and cash returns need not apply) …with a few table scraps for the junior staffers.įor example, firms like Benchmark Capital divide the carry equally between all partners.Īnd according to some academic research, funds with an equitable split of the carry tend to outperform funds that don’t. In most firms, carry is divided up (often, unevenly) between the General Partners… You might have heard this talked about as the “2 and 20” model – the (typically) 2% management fee and the (typically) 20% carry. It’s the percentage of investment profits (often 20%, sometimes 25% or even 30%) that the partners in the VC firm get paid in addition to fund management fees. That’s why you see some VCs who run small funds doing side hustles to pay the bills while they wait for their bets – (I mean, investments) – to pay off.īonus isn’t a given like it is in investment banking or other traditional finance shops.īut many respondents (across all titles) say that they’re getting them. This is because a firm that has $500k or $2 million (or even $5 million) under management isn’t going to have much - or any - cash lying around to pay you a full-time salary. (And teeny tiny funds won’t pull any management fees.) Smaller funds will have lower management fee percentages. Most VC funds above a certain size will charge a 2% or 2.5% management fee for the active investment years. Salary is usually paid out of a fund’s management fees. It makes up the majority of a (non-intern) VCs comp in any given year. There are 3 pieces that make up the compensation structure of a VC: How Do VCs Make Money? (VC Comp Structure)

Average analyst salary ICONIQ capital