Option Pool : 10-20%

What's market for Option Pool size for US startups? It seems to be....

10%-20%

Though there are some variance on the recommended % of shares that should be allocated to the Option Pool, the general consensus seems fairly consistent.

The best and latest source of data is, again, from Peter @ Carta. Where he states that the median % for startup ranges from 12.9%- 19.6% (with size increasing with Valuation of the company). <source>

LTSE Equity has a post based on their data set, which says that "Our data shows that over 50% of startups reserve between 10 and 20% of their capitalization table for the option pool." But I wasn't able to find a reference to when the report was created. source

Other sources

"the option pool represents 10%-20% of the company’s shares." - Trica equity

"A typical option pool size at incorporation ranges between 10% and 20%. Based on our experience setting up option pools over the last 15 years, 99% of startups fall within this range." - Westway

"Option pools can range from 15–25% of initial equity" - Investopedia

One thing to note is that the norms for issuing equity to employees seem to be vastly different between countries. I couldn't find hard data points but just anecdotally, the norm in the US is for employees to receive stock options but in Korea it is not. - if anyone has hard data on this, please share!

Thank you M????? for asking me this question. I love getting questions, so keep sending my way.

Update - 3/21/2024