About Evil Incentives
Founded by James Leach, a compensation strategist with 10 years of experience auditing, designing, and running operations for some of the largest and most competitive sales teams in the country.
Most comp plans are broken — and the people who built them don't even know it. Reps are gaming the system, top performers are leaving, and leadership wonders why revenue targets keep getting missed despite high activity.
Evil Incentives exists to fix that.
We're an incentive compensation consulting firm that helps companies design, audit, and optimize their sales compensation plans. Our approach is data-driven, behaviorally informed, and ruthlessly practical.
Our Methodology
Every engagement starts with data. We analyze your actual performance distributions, quota attainment curves, pay compression ratios, and behavioral patterns before making a single recommendation.
We believe in three principles:
- Simplicity wins. If a rep can't explain their comp plan in 30 seconds, the plan is too complex.
- Incentives shape behavior. Every element of a comp plan sends a signal. Make sure it's the right one.
- Top performers deserve outsized upside. Plans that don't differentiate between the best and the rest lose the best.
Who We Work With
We work with companies across industries — from startups designing their first comp plan to enterprise organizations untangling years of plan sprawl. Whether you have 5 reps or 500, the principles of effective compensation design apply.
Ready to fix your comp plan?
Book a free strategy call and let's talk about your specific challenges.