French Tech bosses earned an average of € 120,000 in 2021


The median annual executive salary reaches € 95,000 for young technology start-ups that have raised less than € 5 million, while it stands at € 218,000 for companies that have raised more than € 100 million.

The salaries of the founding directors of French start-ups have increased by 30% since 2019. This is what emerges from a study published by The Galion Project, think tank digital entrepreneurs. Carried out with 192 French Tech companies that have all raised funds, it reveals that the median gross annual salary of the founders is € 120,000. For a quarter of them, the annual remuneration is even higher than 153,000 €, which represents an increase of 17% compared to the figures of the first survey unveiled in 2019.

This increase in the salaries of the founding leaders of French start-ups is to be correlated with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has led to an acceleration in the use of digital services. “This illustrates how the shock of the Covid has been largely beneficial for the vast majority of technological business models. In general, French Tech continues to ride in an extremely favorable economic situation, which is reflected not only in the spectacular increase in valuations and amounts raised in 2021, but also in the salaries of the founders ”, explains Jean-Baptiste Rudelle, president of The Galion Project and co-founder of Criteo, a French specialist in advertising retargeting, in the conclusions of the survey. Indeed, French Tech is emerging from a record year 2021, with more than 10 billion euros raised by French start-ups.

The gap widened between founders and foundresses

The study also sheds light on the gap “significant” of remuneration between the founders and the founders. The median salary is thus 33% lower for women. This gap has widened since in 2019 the gap was 28%. “The very clear difference observed is strongly linked to the amounts raised. More than the majority of women founders interviewed are at the head of start-ups that have raised less than 5 million euros, against only a third for men. This factor explains part of the difference ”, notes Jean-Baptiste Rudelle. But, more generally, “Women are paid less than men across the entire salary scale”, he adds. It is moreover to reduce these inequalities between men and women in the ecosystem that the Sista collective was created in 2018.

Beyond a fixed salary, almost half of the respondents to the think tank indicate that they receive a variable bonus in relation to the performance of their company. The median of this bonus reaches € 130,000 for the founding directors who benefit from it. For 25% of them, it is greater than € 180,000. “It is interesting to note that the variable part is absolutely not an absolute standard and that, when it does exist, it remains marginal, except for the highest salaries. The practice in start-ups is therefore very different from that of CEOs of listed companies, who almost systematically have a variable portion that can double or more their base compensation ”, specifies Jean-Baptiste Rudelle.

He also points out that 37% of founding executives surveyed negotiated an allocation of BSPCE (company creator share subscription warrants), in addition to their salary. An astonishing practice since “BSPCEs are an element of remuneration traditionally reserved for employees who are not founding shareholders”. Nevertheless, “The favorable economic situation has made it possible to develop this practice which was still not very widespread ten years ago”, underlines the former boss of Criteo.

Controlled wage inflation, the sign of “greater maturity of the ecosystem”

Unsurprisingly, there is a direct correlation between the increase in the amounts of funds raised by start-ups and the increase in the remuneration of their executives. The median annual salary thus reaches 95,000 € for the leaders of young technological start-ups who have raised less than 5 million euros, when it amounts to 218,000 € for the heads of companies having raised more than 100 million euros. . “Compared to 2019, these are the most early stage, in particular those which raised less than 5 million euros, which benefit on average from the largest increase. At the other end of the spectrum, the salaries of founders who raised more than 100 million euros have tightened sharply, with the median even falling by 15% ”, however nuance Jean-Baptiste Rudelle.

The latter sees it as a positive sign for the ecosystem: “The increase in the amounts raised did not therefore translate into uncontrolled wage inflation on the nuggets, which, again, testifies to a greater maturity of the ecosystem.” In addition, the median gross annual salary is € 85,000 for managers of companies with less than 20 employees, a 50% jump compared to 2019, and € 140,000 in start-ups with more than 100 employees, down 5%.

Finally, profitability, a criterion on which many start-ups refuse to communicate, has a direct impact on the remuneration of founders. “Contrary to a fairly widespread myth, whether or not the company makes money has a very significant influence on the remuneration of founders”, says the ex-CEO of Criteo. “In 2019, the average wage gap between profitable and non-profitable companies was 33%, it is now 40%. Here again, this illustrates that, unlike what happened with the Internet bubble of 1999, the ability to achieve profitability is a significant element in the salary recognition of managers. As you would expect, the importance of this factor also increases sharply as start-ups grow in number of employees and in funds raised ”, he concludes.



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