How Instacart Uses Data to Craft A Bespoke Comp Strategy

Under pressure, startups have a need for speed that makes freestyle negotiations or plug-and-play comp data resources attractive. But it doesn’t have to stay this way — and it can’t if a company wants a sound comp philosophy, one that prizes equity, transparency and employee happiness. Enter Jeremy Stanley, Udi Nir and Guissu Baier, the VPs of Data Science, Engineering and HR, respectively. They’re the multifunctional task force that Instacart assembled to retrofit the company’s compensation practices. Its system wasn’t broken, but they wanted it to be exemplary. So they got to work.

In this exclusive interview, Stanley, Nir and Baier deconstruct how they are building a more transparent and trustworthy compensation culture. They start by sharing when and how they use third party comp data as an input to create a customized algorithm. They also break down the different sources of data to add in. Lastly, they share how to integrate this information into their hiring process when salary and equity is discussed — and how to stay competitive as your company and market change.