I have never liked this phrase "If you pay peanuts you get monkeys".
Not because it's wrong. But because I have always found it a bit disrespectful.
And yet, here I am, writing about it.
Because what I keep seeing in the Italian startup market is making it impossible to stay quiet.
So yes, this is a post about the Italian market.
A few days ago, another job post appeared on LinkedIn. A sales role.
At a successful Italian startup. Millions raised - top percentile in the country. Thousands of customers.
The salary? Wrong. Again.
I have seen it over and over.
And I am going to call it out from now on.
Publicly, on LinkedIn.
Every sales package has two parts.
The base salary is your safety net. It covers the rent, the groceries, the basics.
Because in sales, not every month is a good month.
Sometimes the pipeline is slow. Sometimes deals push.
You may have a rough month or a tough quarter.
That is normal, and your team should not be stressed about surviving while trying to sell.
The commission is where the performance lives.
This is the upside. The reason great sellers take the risk and go all in.
The whole package is called OTE - On Target Earning.
Here is how the ratio typically works:
That is the standard. And it's not the high either.
You cannot hire an Account Executive in Milan on a €20K or €25K base salary.
It is impossible, and we all know it.
Milan is expensive. Rent is expensive. Food is expensive. Life is expensive.
A starting base salary for a sales hire in a city like Milan needs to be around €35-40K.
Below that, you are not offering a job. You are offering stress.
I hear the same objection every time:
"Yeah, but salespeople should look at the total compensation. The commission makes up for it."
No. It does not.
The base salary exists precisely for the moments when commission does not come in.
The runway is short - every euro matters.
And if your average contract value is low, a leaner base with higher upside can sometimes make sense.
But there is still a floor. And we need to respect it.
When you go below that floor, you are not saving money.
You are filtering out your best candidates and attracting people who have no other options.
We are not talking about freelancers paid on pure commission.
We are talking about hiring people who will grow your company, carry your revenue, and have the potential to become future sales leaders inside your business.
These people deserve a base that lets them focus on the job.
Yes, performance management matters.
If someone is not closing, I am the first to put a plan in place.
I have fired people who were not performing.
That is part of building a real team.
But you still have to start fair.
Pay fairly. Hire well. Then hold people accountable.
That is how you build a sales team that actually scales.
Thanks for reading this far, see you all next week!
