Hi! I’m glad you’re here. You’ve made it to issue #95 of VC Demystified🪄.
My name’s Nicole - I’m a Principal at an early stage venture fund, and I know firsthand that VC can often be a black box. Breaking into the industry may feel daunting and resources can seem scarce and inaccessible. I wanted to put together a newsletter to give others the playbook I wish I had when I first started.
Today’s deep dive: A practical look at VC compensation, AUM, and the long-term math behind venture careers
My personal mission is to open as many doors as possible for other people and this newsletter is just one avenue to do that. As always, I will continue to post VC insights daily for free across my socials. This newsletter may contain paid partnerships or affiliate links.
VC Job Openings Preview (3 of 9)🪄
Reach Capital is hiring an AI Investor.
Location: San Francisco
https://www.reachcapital.com/ai-investor/
Trust Fund is hiring an Investment Manager.
Location: London
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/4368859403/
Slow Ventures is hiring an Investment Associate.
Location: Remote
https://shorturl.at/6PVWb
Read time: 5 minutes
A practical look at VC compensation, AUM, and the long-term math behind venture careers
If you’re trying to break into venture capital, you’ll eventually ask:
What does VC pay actually look like?
But in VC the better question is:
What am I being paid for now vs. later?
VC is a long game in all forms. It’s designed to reward you if you stay long enough to get promoted to a checkwriting position or to see carry get realized.
What the comp data is actually telling you
Data source: FieldVC, Image: Deedy Das
Look at VC compensation by fund size and one thing becomes obvious fast:
Early-career pay barely changes.
Across the data:
Associates and Senior Associates typically earn ~$120k–$200k at smaller funds
Even at $500M+ funds, that often tops out around ~$200k–$250k
That’s a modest increase, even as fund size grows 5-10x.
This makes sense though. Early VC roles aren’t where the economics are designed to scale.
Early VC is an apprenticeship. The real upside comes later (if you get there).
Titles don’t change your life. AUM does.
Promotions in VC don’t drive compensation the way people expect.
Associate → Principal leads to incremental change. Partner/GP + more AUM leads to step-function change.
From the same data:
Partners at smaller funds often sit around $300k–$400k
At $500M-$1B+ platforms, Partner comp commonly moves into the $600k–$800k range
GP comp can exceed $1M+ at large, multi-fund platforms
Once you’re managing capital, compensation becomes a function of:
Total AUM
How many funds are active
How the economics are split
Salary is certainty. Carry is the bet.
Salary is driven largely by management fees. The standard model in venture is a 2/20 model (2% management fees and 20% carry).
Example:
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