## The On-Target Earnings (OTE) Lie
When an Enterprise SaaS company recruits an Account Executive, they pitch a '$200,000 OTE'. This is deliberately deceptive. It means a $100k guaranteed base salary, and *another* $100k if you perfectly hit a massive $1.2M sales quota. The dirty secret of SaaS is that 65% of reps fail to hit their quota.
### FAQ
**Q: Why don't they just pay a higher base salary?**
A: Venture Capitalists require software companies to maintain insane capital efficiency. If a rep closes $850k in software deals, hitting 70% of their quota, they feel like they failed. But the company gave the rep $170k in total compensation and generated $850,000 in recurring revenue (a 5.0x return on payroll). The quota isn't designed to be hit; it's a financial lever to ensure the company extracts maximum value while minimizing commission payouts.