Paying for outcomes people control

• commission
• bonus
• variable pay
• incentive
• compensation
• gaming

• What behaviour does the current scheme actually reward?
• Which part of the outcome is outside the person's control?
• How quickly is the reward paid relative to the outcome being real?
• What happens if the customer leaves shortly after?

• current scheme terms
• outcomes paid against actual business results
• cases where the reward and the result disagreed

• Reward paid before the outcome is real
• Outcome affected mostly by factors outside the role

• If
  Reward is paid before revenue is collected
  Then
  Move the trigger to collection, with notice and agreement.
• If
  The outcome depends mostly on other people
  Then
  Reduce the variable component; it is a lottery, not an incentive.
• If
  Behaviour is being gamed
  Then
  The measure is wrong, not the person.

Model the last two quarters under the proposed scheme and see who would have been paid what, before changing anything.

Read after 60 days.

• The modelled payouts track business results
• No perverse case appears in the model

• The model produces outcomes the company could not afford or defend

• The model holds → Agree it in writing with notice.

Aury can carry out: read company, prepare document, flag risk, file memory. Specialists involved: finance, operations.

Your approval: Aurygine never changes anyone's pay. It models options for founder decision.

This needs employment review — get a qualified professional to look at your specifics before anything is signed or sent.

Applies only where there is variable pay or a proposal to introduce it.

Compensation is contractual and regulated. Nothing here is employment or tax advice; changes require qualified review and, usually, employee agreement.

• Sourced operator experience: Founder/operator case study analysed inside Aurygine — bootstrapped B2B software company, 2026
• Aurygine synthesis: Aurygine synthesis across founder journeys

Confidence: low. Last reviewed 2026-08-25. Your company's own recorded results override this playbook whenever the two disagree.