The top-tier funds from 2017 and 2018 are on track to provide LPs with the sort of return they likely expected, outpacing the gains they might have achieved in the public markets. Yet most recent funds currently sit well below this mark.

Carta partnered with Solo Founders to provide a comprehensive understanding of the state of solo founders in 2025, based on data from tens of thousands of U.S. companies plus qualitative interviews with founders.

The details of how private funds operate have always remained behind the curtain. Now, Carta provides a never-before-seen glimpse at how VC and PE investors manage and operate their funds.

In recent years, the secondary market has become the primary place where many startups and their investors are able to fill the void created by an extended quiet period in the IPO market.

Engineers of all kinds command some of the highest salaries of any startup employees. But the meteoric ascent of AI tools and technology has pushed salaries even higher.