10/10 Model
What is the 10/10 model?
The 10/10 model says: pay a rep about 10% of their quota as base salary, and about 10% of their quota as commission at 100% attainment. All-in, the rep costs roughly 20% of what they bring in.
The reasoning, in Jason Lemkin's framing, is that a sales rep needs to bring in 4–5x what they take home for the business model to work. Invert that ratio and the 10/10 split falls straight out.
The arithmetic
Every number in that table is the same number viewed from a different angle. That is the model's real value: it makes the four levers — quota, base, variable, and rate — visibly interdependent, so you cannot change one without seeing what it does to the others.
SaaStr's own guidance puts the all-in band at 20–25% of what a rep closes, with quota at 4–5x OTE — and 3x in high-volume, low-ACV SMB models.
Where the model breaks
The 10/10 model is a floor test, not a market rate. Three conditions break it.
Low ACV, high volume. At a $6,000 ACV, a rep clearing $1M of quota is closing 160+ deals a year. The rep economics work; the productivity assumption may not.
Enterprise. Long cycles and $500K deals push both the quota multiple and the rate lower. A 5% rate on enterprise ACV can still deliver a $300K OTE.
Early stage. Lemkin is explicit that founders should overpay early — he paid his first reps far above the model to get the engine started. The model describes a business at scale, not one still finding product-market fit.
And critically: the measured market median for SaaS AE commission is 11.5% of ACV, not 10%. The 10/10 model is a clean formula; the market is messier and slightly more expensive.
10/10 model vs the 4x–5x rule
These are the same idea stated from opposite ends.
What this means?
If a plan passes one, it passes the other. If it fails both, the rep is not profitable at 100% attainment — which means the plan only works if reps overperform, which is a plan built on a hope.
Why the 10/10 model matters for finance teams
It is the fastest viability check available. Before modeling accelerators, ramp, and clawbacks, ask one question: at 100% attainment, what percentage of this rep's bookings goes to this rep? If the answer is meaningfully above 25%, the plan does not survive contact with gross margin, SDR cost, and RevOps overhead. If it is well below 15%, expect attrition.
It is a screen, not a design. Passing it does not mean the plan is good — it means the plan is not obviously broken.
Common mistakes with the 10/10 model
1. Quoting it as a benchmark
"The market pays 10%" is a formula output being passed off as market data. The measured median is higher, and the variance by segment is enormous.
2. Applying it without the quota multiple
10/10 only holds when quota is 4–5x OTE. Import the rate, keep a 3x quota, and you have quietly built a plan that pays a third of bookings to the rep.
3. Using it at the wrong stage
Applying scale-stage economics to your first two reps is how companies fail to hire anyone good. The model assumes a working funnel.
How Visdum handles plan viability
The 10/10 test tells you whether a plan is viable at 100% attainment. Real plans are decided at every other level of attainment — the tail where accelerators fire, the bottom where decelerators and draws bite. Visdum lets you take a candidate plan and run it against your historical attainment distribution before it ships, showing cost of sales as a percentage of bookings at each attainment band rather than at the single point the model assumes. That turns a rule of thumb into a modeled number you can put in front of a CFO.
Take a self-guided product tour →, or model plan scenarios with the Visdum calculators.
Related terms
OTE · Sales Quota · Sales Commission Percentage · Pay Mix · Sales Compensation Plan
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Frequently asked questions
What is the 10/10 model in sales compensation?
A SaaS rule of thumb: a rep earns roughly 10% of their quota as base salary and another 10% as commission at 100% attainment, making all-in compensation about 20% of what they close. It implies a 50/50 pay mix and a quota set at 5x OTE. It is a viability check on whether a sales hire is economically sustainable, not a market rate.
Is the 10/10 model the same as the 4x–5x rule?
Yes — they are the same arithmetic stated from opposite ends. The 10/10 model starts from the rep's pay; the 4x–5x rule starts from the company's economics and says a rep must close four to five times their total compensation. If a plan passes one, it passes the other. If it fails both, the rep is not profitable at 100% attainment.
Is 10% the standard SaaS commission rate?
It is the standard heuristic, not the measured market rate. The 10% figure is a formula output — variable pay divided by a 5x quota — rather than a benchmark finding. Bridge Group's data puts the actual median at 11.5% of ACV at 100% quota attainment, with a typical band of 11–14%. The market is slightly more expensive than the rule of thumb.
When does the 10/10 model break down?
In three places. At very low ACV, the rep economics work but the productivity assumption may not — a $1M quota at a $6,000 ACV means closing 160+ deals a year. In enterprise, longer cycles push both the quota multiple and the rate lower. And at early stage, founders should deliberately overpay to get the engine started; the model describes a business at scale.
What percentage of bookings should go to the sales rep?
Roughly 20–25% all-in — base plus commission — at 100% attainment. Meaningfully above 25% and the plan does not survive contact with gross margin, SDR cost, and RevOps overhead. Well below 15% and you should expect attrition, because a competitor will pay more for the same production.
Can I use the 10/10 model to design my comp plan?
Use it as a screen, not a design. It tells you whether a plan is viable at exactly one point — 100% attainment — which is the point at which almost no rep actually lands. The plan is really decided at the other attainment levels, where accelerators, decelerators, draws, and clawbacks take over. Passing 10/10 means the plan is not obviously broken, not that it is good.