They don't teach you EVERYTHING you need to know in business school.
Craig Stark's insight:
Good advice regarding your sales compensation plans for your startup. To attract the right skills for your first sales person, you have to be willing to pay big for the first deals.
Don't get conned into hiring a VP of sales to "build a team"- that is a downstream requirement. You need a few key deals to fund your expansion, so pay up.
Be prepared to pay 10- 30% range for the first deal. These sharpshooters live for the big money so they will likely leave after the first year to find another big paying opportunity.