Well, my knowledge is based on the job interviews I have had with employers when I considered this line of work way back, plus talking with HH (headhunters). You have got to remember, call a scam a scam, and lots of sales work consists of scams. Especially those "zero base" schemes (50% of GP). Usually they are boiler rooms, bogus operations that take advantage of people. The people doing it make next to nothing. 50% of zero is zero.
To my understanding there are 3 types of pay scales in the software industry; pure consulting, pre-sales, and pure sales. As the position moves towards more of a pure sales position, the base gets to be less. But, they are there for a reason.. they would have a substantial quota, and as such 10% of that as commission is reasonable.
Consulting types are typical salaried workers that come in after the contract is signed. They make typical salaries with a small bonus of 10-20%. They travel alot.
Pre-sales people work with the Sales people to close the deal until it is signed. They make a substantial base.. I have been quoted 70k in specific positions I have interviewed for. plus a substantial bonus. Total salary in a good market could be 120k.
Pure sales people make enough money as a base that it is not a scam and they can live on it. They are money-motivated and hence do not care about the base. 1M annual quota for an experienced guy is not that much. I worked for a time in the telephone systems marketplace and guys were doing that. That is Gross Margin or maybe Revenue. Anyway, I did not check to see what kind of sales numbers might apply to uWink, hence size of team. Don't know. Hence if these are serous guys pulling serious numbers, yes 10% would do it. That gives $150-250k annually.
The only other variation I have seen is a "draw". That is a variation of the Scam, where you draw forward against your commissions. I once got sued for repayment of draw. Don't ask..
My impression of uWink is that they have a pure Product that would not have alot of consulting work associated with it and would not really be custom in nature. Hence, I would foresee a team of pure sales people that could sell that software once it is stable and deployed in those restaurants. They may make a bit less than 70k as a base, but don't count on it. uWink would also have some Consulting/training staff. Training was specifically mentioned in the Florida document that Net posted.
That is the extent of my knowledge. How else is it going to happen at uWink? I read an interview with Nolan some time back where he stated that (wrt selling to restaurants) "it will just happen". Well, I don't think so, but a salesman is paid to make it happen.
Greenband help me out here, after all, your bio says you are a Director of Sales.
