For the lowest-ranking and highest-ranking positions on startup org charts, the typical amounts of equity received by new hires are moving in opposite directions.
Dating back to the start of 2024, the median initial equity grant issued to entry-level individual contributors (ICs) has increased by 21.8%, according to Carta’s latest State of Startup Compensation report. For each of the four types of ICs included in Carta’s analysis, from entry level up to senior level, median grant sizes are up by at least 16% over this span, and have continued to climb over the past year.
Among executives, the picture looks quite different. The median initial grant size among members of the C-suite has actually gotten smaller since the start of 2024, shrinking by 2.8%. Grant sizes among vice presidents and senior VPs have declined by even greater margins.
Of course, in terms of raw grant size, the typical executive still receives far more equity than the typical IC. But the gap is narrowing.
It’s likely no coincidence that this shift in where startups allocate their equity has occurred at the same time that AI is transforming how many companies operate. One of the most frequently discussed outcomes of this transformation is the empowerment of ICs: With AI on their side, the thinking goes, these employees are able to do more work (and more meaningful work) than ever before. AI is able to streamline many organizational and administrative tasks, reducing the need for middle management and increasing the importance of high-performing ICs who are more capable than ever of driving business outcomes.
Startups aren’t hiring more ICs: Overall, companies on Carta made 8% fewer hires in H1 2026 than in H1 2024. But when they find an IC they do want to hire, they’re more willing than ever to pay a premium.
The data presents one obvious complication to this narrative of growing focus on ICs and a reduced need for middle management. Namely, both managers and senior managers have also seen initial equity grants swell since the start of 2024, with median grant sizes for both roles up more than 20% during this span, similar to the growth among ICs.
Most of that growth in grant sizes, however, occurred in 2024 and early 2025. Over the past four quarters—a period in which the chatter around flatter organizations has grown increasingly loud—the median grant issued to managerial hires has declined.
This isn’t a one-size-fits-all trend. Some managers and executives still create enormous value for their employers and are compensated accordingly. But across the ecosystem as a whole, a reconfiguring of how startups use equity appears to be underway.
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