team-composition-analysis
Helps your agent plan team structure and hiring for startups. It defines hiring plans, salaries, and equity, useful for organizing company growth.
What it does
This tool helps startups plan their team structure, who to hire, how much to pay, and how to divide company ownership. It's useful for early-stage companies, from idea to growth.
When to use it
- ✓Planning how many people to hire.
- ✓Deciding which role to fill next.
- ✓Setting salaries and company ownership stakes.
Example of what to ask your AI
“How should I build my initial team for a tech startup?”
Want more? Open the sections below.
How to use
The easiest way: copy the message below and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any AI. It reads the skill and follows the instructions.
Skill link
Ready-to-paste message
How it works
The tool uses information about your startup's stage (how much money it has and its revenue) to suggest the right roles, salary ranges, and ownership percentages.
Installation
Easiest way: copy the skill link and paste it into Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor asking it to follow the instructions.
In the terminal (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor), in your project folder:
npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill team-composition-analysisOr download just the file:
curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wshobson/agents/main/plugins/startup-business-analyst/skills/team-composition-analysis/SKILL.md -o SKILL.mdTechnical content (original SKILL.md)
Original text by the author, straight from GitHub.
Team Composition Analysis
Design optimal team structures, hiring plans, compensation strategies, and equity allocation for early-stage startups from pre-seed through Series A.
Overview
Build the right team at the right time with appropriate compensation and equity. Plan role-by-role hiring aligned with revenue milestones, budget constraints, and market benchmarks.
Team Structure by Stage
Pre-Seed (0-$500K ARR)
Team Size: 2-5 people
Core Roles:
- Founders (2-3): Product, engineering, business
- First engineer (if needed)
- Contract roles: Design, marketing
Focus: Build and validate product-market fit
Seed ($500K-$2M ARR)
Team Size: 5-15 people
Key Hires:
- Engineering lead + 2-3 engineers
- First sales/business development
- Product manager
- Marketing/growth lead
Focus: Scale product and prove repeatable sales
Series A ($2M-$10M ARR)
Team Size: 15-50 people
Department Build-Out:
- Engineering (40%): 6-20 people
- Sales & Marketing (30%): 5-15 people
- Customer Success (10%): 2-5 people
- G&A (10%): 2-5 people
- Product (10%): 2-5 people
Focus: Scale revenue and build repeatable processes
Detailed section: Role-by-Role Planning
Originally a 1720-byte section in this SKILL.md. Moved to references/details.md to fit Codex's 8 KB skill body cap.
Compensation Strategy
Base Salary Benchmarks (US, 2024)
Engineering:
- Junior: $90K-$120K
- Mid-Level: $120K-$150K
- Senior: $150K-$180K
- Staff/Principal: $180K-$220K
- Engineering Manager: $160K-$200K
- VP Engineering: $180K-$250K
Sales:
- SDR/BDR: $50K-$70K base + $50K-$70K commission
- Account Executive: $80K-$120K base + $80K-$120K commission
- Sales Manager: $120K-$160K base + $80K-$120K commission
- VP Sales: $150K-$200K base + $150K-$200K commission
Product:
- Product Manager: $120K-$150K
- Senior PM: $150K-$180K
- Head of Product: $150K-$180K
- VP Product: $180K-$220K
Marketing:
- Marketing Manager: $90K-$130K
- Content/Demand Gen: $70K-$100K
- Head of Marketing: $130K-$170K
- VP Marketing: $150K-$200K
Customer Success:
- CS Representative: $60K-$90K
- CS Manager: $100K-$130K
- VP Customer Success: $140K-$180K
Total Compensation Formula
Total Comp = Base Salary × 1.30 (benefits & taxes) + Equity Value
Fully-Loaded Cost:
- Base salary
- Payroll taxes (7.65% FICA)
- Benefits (health insurance, 401k): $10K-$15K per employee
- Other (workspace, equipment, software): $5K-$10K per employee
Rule of Thumb: Multiply base salary by 1.3-1.4 for fully-loaded cost
Geographic Adjustments
San Francisco / New York: +20-30% above benchmarks Seattle / Boston / Los Angeles: +10-20% Austin / Denver / Chicago: +0-10% Remote / Other US Cities: -10-20% International: Varies widely by country
Equity Allocation
Equity by Role and Stage
Founders:
- First founder: 40-60%
- Second founder: 20-40%
- Third founder: 10-20%
- Vesting: 4 years with 1-year cliff
Early Employees (Pre-Seed):
- First engineer: 0.5-2.0%
- First 5 employees: 0.25-1.0% each
Seed Stage Hires:
- VP/Head level: 0.5-1.5%
- Senior IC: 0.1-0.5%
- Mid-level: 0.05-0.25%
- Junior: 0.01-0.1%
Series A Hires:
- C-level (CTO, CFO): 1.0-3.0%
- VP level: 0.3-1.0%
- Director level: 0.1-0.5%
- Senior IC: 0.05-0.2%
- Mid-level: 0.01-0.1%
- Junior: 0.005-0.05%
Equity Pool Sizing
Option Pool by Round:
- Pre-Seed: 10-15% reserved
- Seed: 10-15% top-up
- Series A: 10-15% top-up
- Series B+: 5-10% per round
Pre-Funding Dilution: Investors often require option pool creation before investment, diluting founders.
Example:
Pre-money: $10M
Investors want 15% option pool post-money
Calculation:
Post-money: $15M ($10M + $5M investment)
Option pool: $2.25M (15% × $15M)
Founders diluted by pool creation before new money
Organizational Design
Reporting Structure
Pre-Seed:
Founders (flat structure)
├── Contractors
└── First hires (report to founders)
Seed:
CEO
├── Engineering Lead (2-4 engineers)
├── Sales/Growth Lead (1-2 reps)
├── Product Manager
└── Operations
Series A:
CEO
├── CTO / VP Engineering (6-20 people)
│ ├── Engineering Manager(s)
│ └── Individual Contributors
├── VP Sales (5-15 people)
│ ├── Sales Manager
│ ├── Account Executives
│ └── SDRs
├── Head of Product (2-5 people)
│ ├── Product Managers
│ └── Designers
├── Head of Customer Success (2-5 people)
…
FAQ
What is 'equity'?
It's a small piece of company ownership that can be given to founders and key employees. Over time, if the company grows and is sold, this stake can be worth money.
What are 'funding milestones'?
These are the points when a startup receives money from investors (like 'Seed' or 'Series A'). The team is planned to grow according to these investments.
Why do salaries vary so much?
Salaries vary based on the role's experience (junior, mid-level, senior), location (expensive cities cost more), and the type of function (engineering, sales, etc.).
Details
Original description by the author
Design optimal team structures, hiring plans, compensation strategies, and equity allocation for early-stage startups from pre-seed through Series A. Use this skill when planning headcount, determining which roles to hire next, setting compensation or equity ranges, designing org structure, or building a hiring budget aligned to funding milestones.
repo: wshobson/agents
Popularity
- GitHub stars
- 41k
- Ranking position
- #4963
- License
- MIT
- Updated
- 10/15/2026
Comments
- …
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