Operator Compensation Comps?

September 07, 2024

by an investor from Drexel University in Florida, USA

Hello,

I've acquired two companies and have another under LOI. Starting to move into a holding company management role instead of operating the individual companies. I am hiring an operator for a company doing ~$4M revenue and $1M EBITDA. It is a remote role but they need to be US Based. Can anyone share salary comps for similar roles?

EDIT: the industry is niche equipment renal with operations distributed around the US. Looking for a sales/growth operator.

If you don't want to make it public, please DM me or email me at redacted

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Reply by an investor
from Drexel University in Florida, USA

Thank you everyone for your help. I've now talked with a variety of candidates and presented a $150k base with $150k bonus tied to revenue and EBITDA growth metrics. We are looking for 25% growth in 2025.

Some people weren't interested (all of them came from a large company background and lived in high cost cities like DC and NY) while other, more entrepreneurial-minded folks were interested in it and I am finding that those are a better fit for the role anyway. I can post a follow-up when I am done with my process with where I landed.

Reply by a professional
from University of California, Hastings College of Law in Petaluma, California, United States

Hi Tim (and others) at ~$4M revenue / ~$1M EBITDA, we’re typically seeing: Base: $150k–$180k Bonus: 25–40% tied to revenue + EBITDA growth Equity: 5–12% vesting over 3–5 years (especially if full P&L + growth mandate) The bigger variable isn’t just comp, it’s operator scope and constraint. At this size, the key questions are: Are they truly owning P&L or primarily sales? How much founder dependency are they inheriting? Is the growth lever pricing, new accounts, cross-sell, or geographic expansion? Are you solving a sales constraint or an execution constraint? We’ve seen sponsors overpay for “growth operators” when the real issue was pricing discipline or delivery capacity, and underpay when they needed someone to professionalize a distributed team. Happy to compare notes if useful. We spend a lot of time helping sponsors match operator profile to the actual constraint in the business, especially in GTM/Sales functions. Feel free to DM me if anyone wants to trade notes on this topic!

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