Compensation Strategy

The compensation strategy of a company is an essential component of its overall business strategy. It reflects the company's values and culture, as well as its ability to attract and retain top talent. In the case of a remote-first startup, the compensation strategy is even more critical since it has a significant impact on the company's ability to hire and retain employees. At MOSTLY AI we follow a Total Reward approach which consists of 3 parts:

  • Cash

  • Benefits

  • Equity (PSOP)

Location based cash compensation strategy

Competitive rates for roles vary depending on regions and countries. We pay a competitive rate instead of paying the same wage for the same role in different regions.

Paying the same wage in different regions would lead to:

  1. If we start paying everyone the highest wage our compensation costs would increase greatly, we can hire fewer people, and we would get less results.

  2. A concentration of team members in low-wage regions, since it is a better deal for them, while we want a geographically diverse team.

  3. Team members in high-wage regions having much less discretionary income than ones in low-wage countries with the same role.

  4. Team members in low-wage regions being in golden handcuffs and sticking around because of the compensation even when they are unhappy (we believe that it is healthy for the employee and the company when unhappy people leave).

  5. If we start paying everyone the lowest wage we would not be able to attract and retain people in high-wage regions (we want the largest pool to recruit from as practical).

Harmonized local benefits strategy

While we strive to offer competitive benefits regardless of location and type of employment, we acknowledge that there are local regulations (eg. family leave, vacation and other benefits) we need to comply with. We will continue to harmonize and expand our offering across all regions.

Global equity (PSOP) strategy

For our Phantom Share program we follow a global allocation strategy. The individual allocation depends on the following factor:

  • Start date (before or after a round of funding)

  • Seniority

  • Department/function

Offer during the recruiting process

When we prepare an offer we take the following datapoint into consideration:

  • Location

  • Cost of Living (reference: Cost of Living Comparison)

  • Market alignment (to understand the market we use various resources)

    • Figures HR (startup offering compensation benchmarking data)

    • Employer of Record data (Remote)

    • Web search (Built In, Glassdoor, PayScale,….)

    • Other interviews

    • Headhunter

    • Companies with public lists of salaries:

  • Individual salary expectations

  • Team fit

  • Seniority

  • Type of employment relationship (EOR vs. Contractor vs. Entity)

We acknowledge that compensation is not perfect science but we strive to offer competitive offers that value the impact the MOSTLY will have.

Compensation review cycle

Annually we review the Total Reward including cash and equity.

The decision for an adjustment is based on:

  • Performance

  • Potential (future performance)

  • Market alignment

  • Tenure

  • Team comparison

  • Budget

The compensation adjustment is effective in the month following the performance review in Q1 - this is usually in March.

We adjust compensation depending on your tax/residence location. Should you decide to move from a “low-cost” country to a “high-cost” country, we will adjust your compensation to meet the above mentioned criteria. Same is true if you move from a “high-cost” country to a “low-cost” country.

Total Reward Statement

Your individual Total Reward Statement provides a personal snapshot of the annual value of your MOSTLY AI compensation with a detailed overview to keep track of adjustments and will be provided annually during the performance review in Q1.

PSOP

Find additional information about PSOP here.

See Start-up equity: resources & models by Figures GR

(Figures) Start-up equit…