Below is taken from David Sacks blog post about sales compensation:

Three rules:

  1. Pay AEs a 10 % commission.
  2. Split OTE* 50/50 between base and variable
  3. Give each rep a quota ≈ 10× their base (about 5× OTE)

to keep incentives clean and predictable.

With those ratios, a rep’s fully-loaded cost stays near 25 % of new ARR, which—paired with spending up to 50 % of new ARR on marketing—keeps CAC payback comfortably under 12 months, the efficiency hurdle most venture investors expect before you scale.

Start with two AEs; when ≥ ⅔ consistently clear ~80 % of quota, layer in a manager (whose team quota should be ~-20 % lower) and add more reps—if they’re missing, fix price or pipeline first

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*On-Target Earnings