Startup management pay

[u/Outrageous_Ask869]

Hey folks, what is the pay range in Luxembourg for startup management?

Interviewing for a chief of staff role and want to know what I can expect.

I did check the mega thread, but couldn't find anything that wasn't tech or big corp salaries

[u/Aggravating-Fuel8764]

50k-300k

[u/Outrageous_Ask869 → u/Aggravating-Fuel8764]

Bruh, thanks 😅

[u/Aggravating-Fuel8764 → u/Outrageous_Ask869]

Yeah but that’s what you can expect. The position you mentioned can be either paying very low or very high depending on how much money startup will have. It could be totally random and I wouldn’t be surprised with 50k neither with 300k.

[u/Outrageous_Ask869 → u/Aggravating-Fuel8764]

What do you think is a fair ask for a role like this? Independent of what the startup is willing to pay, but based on Lux market and role's nature

[u/Aggravating-Fuel8764 → u/Outrageous_Ask869]

For a role like this I would say 200-250k base but this is very ballpark number. Then of course bonus depending if it’s mentioned in the agreement or only optional could be something like 50% of your base salary etc.

[u/Outrageous_Ask869 → u/Aggravating-Fuel8764]

Thanks! I thought of asking ~100k. Do you think it's reasonable?

If you were in my place, how much would it take for you to take the offer?

I'm a strategy & corporate finance consultant in MBB (three years in MBB, total of 5-6 years prof experience) also have run small family businesses for quite some years.

[u/Aggravating-Fuel8764 → u/Outrageous_Ask869]

Well sorry but this is just funny. 6 years of total experience and you would like to be chief of staff? What kind of company is considering you. Immediate red flag. I was thinking you are someone late 30s early 40s after several years in corporate looking to move into startup scene. I’m sorry but don’t know what to recommend you in this situation, the whole story doesn’t look professional and reliable.

[u/Outrageous_Ask869 → u/Aggravating-Fuel8764]

It's regular practice these days. I am actually arguably a bit over qualified.

CEO office or department heads in larger corporates hire so called chief of staff or associate to CxO from a poll of people with 2-5 years of experience in consulting/VC/IB. In essence they are just CEO/head of departments' little helpers. It's quite common these days.

[u/RealLife5415]

No two startups are the same so you could get paid peanuts or a big bag of cash. Also if you are interviewing why not simply ask the HR guy ? Or better make your salary demands directly and see where it goes

[u/Feierkappchen → u/RealLife5415]

He's aiming to become that HR guy

[u/RealLife5415 → u/Feierkappchen]

Still they probably have some other guy taking care of HR/hiring stuff in the interim period

[u/Outrageous_Ask869 → u/RealLife5415]

Because the HR guy doesn't want to tell me their range

[u/randomzy876]

Startup really depends…the 50-300 bracket isn’t that wild at least in the Silicon Valley. I would say terrible base salary and tons of stock options that may or may not be worth something one day.

[u/DufferDelux]

Could be a decent salary, but you take ALL the heat along the way, or a low salary with stock options, carrot dangling for later, but less grief. The only way you’re going to find out is to ask the recruiter.

[u/Outrageous_Ask869 → u/DufferDelux]

Thanks! I did ask, the recruiter did not answer. She said it depends and asked me how much I wanted for the role. I told her it depends 🤣

[u/DuePercentage1580]

how start-up is the start-up? is it a 40 people office or a 4 people pre revenue idea?

[u/Outrageous_Ask869 → u/DuePercentage1580]

It's a decently sized tram with a product at the initial phase of scaling

[u/autarol]

In the last couple startups the CoS role was more like a glorified secretary, managing the schedule of CEO, organizing townhall meetings and preparing presentations.

Im an organisation of 5-25 people in Luxembourg wouldn't expect to be similar to a large hub startups. Most startups in Luxembourg are SMEs. Nothing wrong with SMEs but not the next unicorn.

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[u/RDA92]

I mean if it's a start-up that is just about to scale up their first product (and there is still a meaningful risk for it to fail) then I would assume that both revenues and profits are low / negative. So it all boils down to how much funding they have. Luxembourg is small, both the LBR or fundraising news can give you an idea about that number if you know the name of the company. If they haven't raised any money then I'll doubt they will be able to offer a high salary.

I'm not familiar with the CoS role per se (only know it from politics lol) bit I'd say the baseline expectation should simply match what you could get paid at other non-start up places that match your profile.

I'd generally ask for a premium to that number given the risk of company failure or pay delays is objectively higher.