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Series B Equity Guide 2026

Series B Equity Guide 2026

Series B equity guide: 76% of postings mention equity. 4-year / 1-year cliff. RSUs increasingly common alongside options at this stage.

Series B Equity Guide 2026

76% of Series B job postings explicitly mention equity as a compensation component. Based on 70 active job postings from 61 companies.

📊 Equity at a Glance

MetricValue
Postings mentioning equity76%
Median equity % (where disclosed)
Vesting schedule4 years / 1-year cliff (standard)
Companies in dataset61

💼 Equity Instrument Types

Type% of grantsPostings
Equity89%47 postings
Options9%5 postings
RSU2%1 postings

🏢 Top Roles and Their Equity

Role-level equity data coming soon.

Top companies hiring at the Series B stage: Stepful · LangChain · Heron Power · Merge · BlackThorn Therapeutics · Typeface · AirGarage · Actively.

Vesting Schedule

4-year / 1-year cliff. RSUs increasingly common alongside options at this stage.

Options vs. RSUs — What's the Difference?

Stock options give you the right to buy shares at a fixed price (the strike price). They're more common at earlier stages (Seed, Series A, B) when the company is private and the strike price is lower — the upside is higher if the company grows significantly.

Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are grants of actual shares that vest over time. They're more common at later stages and public companies, where a set dollar value is easier to communicate. RSUs have value at grant; options are only valuable if the company's value exceeds your strike price.

Common Questions

What equity can I expect at a Series B startup?
76% of Series B job postings explicitly mention equity as a compensation component. 4-year / 1-year cliff. RSUs increasingly common alongside options at this stage.

What is a 1-year cliff?
A cliff means none of your equity vests until you've been at the company for 1 year. After the cliff, the remaining equity typically vests monthly over the next 3 years.

Should I negotiate equity or salary?
At Series B companies, equity upside can dwarf base salary over a 4-year hold. If you're confident in the company's trajectory, negotiate for more equity at a lower salary rather than vice versa.

Explore Other Stages

Seed Stage Equity Guide →  |  Series A Equity Guide →  |  Series C Equity Guide →  |  Series D / Late Stage Equity Guide →  |  Public Company Equity Guide →

Methodology

Equity data is aggregated from 70 active job postings at 61 Series B companies tracked by Recruiting from Scratch (2025–2026). Equity mention % counts postings with a non-null equity_type field. Equity % figures come from postings that explicitly list a percentage range; coverage is partial (~53 postings).

Evaluating an equity offer at a Series B startup? RFS recruiters can benchmark it against live market data →

Are you hiring at the Series B stage? See how top Series B companies attract talent →

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