Headcount Planning & Compensation Benchmarking
Written by Harry Prabandham
Curated by Rubric Financial
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Building a Headcount Plan
- Start with the business plan: what revenue and product milestones do you need to hit, and what roles are required to get there?
- Map each hire to a specific quarter with a start date, fully loaded cost, and the milestone or deliverable the role supports
- Fully loaded cost = base salary + benefits (15-20% of base) + payroll taxes (7.65% FICA) + equity (value varies), typically 1.25-1.4x base salary
- Build in ramp time: sales reps take 3-6 months to reach full productivity, engineers take 1-3 months, so don't model full output from day one
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About the author
Harry PrabandhamFounder & CEO
Founder and CEO of StartupCFO. MBA from Wharton, MS in Computer Science, and decades of experience building and advising venture-backed startups.
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