Startup advisor compensation: what the equity grids say and what advisors really get

Startup advisor compensation is usually a small equity grant, often with no cash at all: public benchmarks run from a 0.05% median at Series A to 1% for a heavily involved pre-seed advisor, vesting over about two years. Where you land in that range depends on how early the company is and how much work you take on, and the typical grant is smaller than the popular templates suggest. This post is for the advisor: what the published numbers say, which terms matter more than the percentage, and what to ask for before you sign.

1. Expect a fraction of a percent, set by stage and workload

Two public sources anchor most advisor offers. The first is the Founder Institute's FAST agreement, a free template that sets the grant by company stage and by how much the advisor does (FAST agreement, version 3.0). The second is Carta, which manages cap tables for many startups and publishes what companies actually grant (Carta).

FAST calls its standard level the top 50% of advisors, strategic the top 25% and expert the top 10%, so the template assumes you are better than most. Carta's figures are percentages of fully diluted shares (every share and option that exists or could be issued). Carta also says the pre-seed median fell from 0.25% in 2021 through 2023 to 0.21% in the first half of 2024, and that only 10% of pre-seed advisors received 1% or more.

Short version: read FAST as the ceiling for an unusually involved advisor and Carta as the typical offer. If a seed company offers you 0.12% to 0.25% for a monthly call, that is a normal offer.

The FAST page also describes a 5% pool of equity shared by a group of strategic advisors or an advisory board (FAST). If a company already has eight advisors sharing a pool like that, your slice is going to be small.

2. Read the vesting terms before the percentage

Vesting decides how much of the grant you actually earn. The FAST agreement vests monthly over two years with a three-month cliff, meaning nothing vests until you have advised for three months, and all unvested shares vest if the company is sold (FAST agreement).

Carta describes the same two-year monthly schedule as common, sometimes with no cliff and sometimes with a three-month one (Carta). It adds that many advisors negotiate single-trigger acceleration, which means everything vests on one event, such as a sale of the company or the company ending the relationship. Ask for that second trigger. It protects you from the company dropping you in month four after you made the introductions it needed.

Check the termination clause too. The FAST agreement lets either side end it with five days' written notice, and you keep only what has vested by then.

3. Know what kind of equity you are getting

"Advisory shares" is a nickname, not a special class of stock. Carta says advisors usually get either restricted stock awards (actual shares, subject to vesting) or non-qualified stock options (the right to buy shares later at a fixed price), and that advisors get non-qualified options rather than the incentive stock options reserved for employees (Carta). The advisory shares post covers the mechanics in more detail.

The tax timing differs:

• Options. The IRS says there is usually no taxable event when a non-qualified option is granted. When you exercise, you include in income the fair market value of the stock minus what you paid (IRS Topic 427).
• Restricted stock. You can file an 83(b) election to be taxed on the value when you receive the shares rather than as they vest. The IRS form says the election must be filed no later than 30 days after the transfer and can't be revoked without IRS consent (IRS Form 15620).

Options also cost money to use. The FAST page notes you may need to buy your shares within a set window, such as 90 days, after the engagement ends (FAST). That is real cash out of your pocket for stock you may not be able to sell for years. This is general information, not tax advice: talk to an accountant before you exercise options or file an 83(b).

4. Turn the grant into an hourly number before you say yes

Here is a made-up example. Dana spent nine years running procurement at a regional hospital group. A seed-stage company selling inventory software to hospitals offers her 0.25%, FAST's standard seed level, as options vesting monthly over two years with a three-month cliff. The company has 10,000,000 fully diluted shares.

• 0.25% of 10,000,000 is 25,000 options.
• Spread over 24 months, about 1,042 vest each month. After the cliff at month three, 3,125 vest at once.
• FAST puts every level at 5 to 10 hours a month (FAST agreement). At 7 hours a month for 24 months, Dana gives 168 hours.
• If her strike price is $0.40 a share (also made up), exercising all 25,000 options costs $10,000.

Whether that is a good deal depends on the company, and stock in a young private company can end up worth nothing. So price your hours as if it might be. If 168 hours of your time only makes sense when the company becomes a large success, ask for fewer hours or some cash.

5. Ask for cash when the work is a project

Equity fits ongoing advice: a monthly call, a few introductions, answering questions when they come up. The FAST FAQ says the template is built for advisors normally paid in equity and is not designed for project consulting or work for hire (FAST).

So if the company wants you to write its pricing model, run its first hospital pilot or sit in on every sales call for a quarter, that is consulting. Quote it as consulting, with a fee and a written agreement. The posts on consultant hourly rates and the consulting agreement cover how to price and paper that work. You can hold a small advisory grant and a separate paid project with the same company, as long as both are written down.

One more option: Carta suggests founders ask a potential advisor whether they would rather invest money instead of taking advisory shares (Carta). If you believe in the company enough to invest, say so. If you don't, that tells you something about how much the grant is worth to you.

6. Board advisor compensation is a different number from board director pay

People searching for "board advisor compensation" often find director pay figures, and those come from a different job. A director sits on the board of directors, votes and owes legal duties to shareholders. An advisor advises and decides nothing. The board advisor post explains the difference.

The director numbers are much larger and come from public companies. Spencer Stuart's 2025 board index reports average pay of $336,352 for S&P 500 directors, made up of 59% stock awards and 36% cash (Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance). A startup advisory board pays nothing like that. Use the FAST and Carta figures for advisory roles.

7. Get these terms in writing before you start

Carta lists what a written advisor agreement should include: your area of expertise, your role, the time commitment, the exact number of shares or options, the vesting schedule and cliff, and confidentiality and IP clauses (Carta). Add the items that protect you:

1. The grant as a share count and as a percentage of fully diluted shares on a stated date.
2. The type of security (options or restricted stock) and the exercise price.
3. Vesting, cliff and acceleration, including what happens if the company ends the relationship.
4. How long you have to exercise after you leave.
5. Board approval. The FAST agreement commits the company to seek board approval and deliver the option documents within 90 days (FAST agreement). Until the board approves, the grant does not exist yet.

Read the conflicts clause carefully. FAST has you confirm the work breaks no duty to a current or former employer, and tell the company in writing about any competitor you also advise. If you are employed, check your own contract before you sign, and have a lawyer read anything unusual. Advise from your experience and judgment, never from your employer's confidential information; the material nonpublic information post explains where that line sits.

Start with paid conversations before you take equity

A short paid call is a low-risk way to find out whether a company and its founders are worth two years of your time. On Instant Expert, buyers invite professionals to short paid calls or to written or voice answers, and you can claim your profile to set your rate or check the request board for open requests. See the startup advisors and board advisors directories for the kind of profiles companies look for.