Co-founder vs executive director

The differences between co-founders and executive directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes More than 10 years to become a co-founder, becoming an executive director takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, an executive director has an average salary of $127,956, which is higher than the $105,022 average annual salary of a co-founder.

The top three skills for a co-founder include financial statements, business strategy and business plan. The most important skills for an executive director are oversight, patients, and customer service.

Co-founder vs executive director overview

	Co-Founder	Executive Director
Yearly salary	$105,022	$127,956
Hourly rate	$50.49	$61.52
Growth rate	6%	-8%
Number of jobs	4,214	97,471
Job satisfaction	-	4.5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age	52	49
Years of experience	-	4

What does a co-founder do?

A Co-Founder is an essential member of a company as they complement the skills, vision, and mission of the Founder. Most of the time, the tasks of a Co-Founder revolve around the financial planning and developing strategies that would be beneficial for the company's financial gain and workforce. Furthermore, a Co-Founder must coordinate with the Founder and other staff and departments to remain aware of the progress or issues, should there be any, to provide timely resolutions.

What does an executive director do?

Executive directors are top management employees who usually function as a chief executive officer. This role is usually seen in non-profit organizations. Executive directors provide strategic direction to the organization, and they ensure that the organization's goals are actualized. They provide guidance to the employees and ensure that the employees have the organization's advocacies at the center of every project or program. They oversee the policies of the organization and create strategies that will bring the organization's programs forward. Executive directors are also responsible for making crucial decisions for the betterment of the organization.

Co-founder vs executive director salary

Co-founders and executive directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Co-Founder	Executive Director
Average salary	$105,022	$127,956
Salary range	Between $61,000 And $179,000	Between $76,000 And $213,000
Highest paying City	-	New York, NY
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Genentech
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between co-founder and executive director education

There are a few differences between a co-founder and an executive director in terms of educational background:

	Co-Founder	Executive Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Co-founder vs executive director demographics

Here are the differences between co-founders' and executive directors' demographics:

	Co-Founder	Executive Director
Average age	52	49
Gender ratio	Male, 66.0% Female, 34.0%	Male, 47.0% Female, 53.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 7.6% Asian, 7.5% White, 76.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 11.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 71.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	12%	10%

Differences between co-founder and executive director duties and responsibilities

Co-founder example responsibilities.

Manage cross functional teams through all phases of B2C campaign development.
Manage social media connect to the site (20k+ twitter impressions).
Manage and schedule production for assembly, machining, molding and QC departments.
Design and manage user web experience and social media marketing campaign, leveraging 'celebrity' Instagram dogs
Manage drivers and customers as well as all operational functions; including sales billing, accounts receivables and payroll.
Manage all features of business including client service, sales, QuickBooks accounting, purchasing, shipping and customer retention.

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Executive director example responsibilities.

Manage 10 department heads who supervise a staff of 350 FTE's.
Develop and manage sales teams to assure the highest ROI on the client's investment.
Create and manage a call center for lead programs to support the prospecting activity needs of the FSR.
Freelance blogging to increase website views and ultimately to turn organic content into leads and ROI for small businesses.
Market and manage group and individual insurance programs including health, life, disability, long term care and annuities.
Major accomplishment are to achieve initial NAEYC accreditation.

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Co-founder vs executive director skills

Common co-founder skills

Financial Statements, 8%
Business Strategy, 7%
Business Plan, 6%
Non-Profit Organization, 5%
R, 5%
Facebook, 4%

Common executive director skills

Oversight, 10%
Patients, 9%
Customer Service, 5%
Financial Management, 5%
Business Development, 4%
Home Health, 4%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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