# Test a Revenue Bonus in the Room

Source: https://ivankamenken.com/revenue-based-bonus-anchor-seat · Last updated 29 October 2026

You are in the monthly team meeting, explaining why the revenue bonus moved, and every person has a different version of the number. Ivanka Menken uses The Anchor Seat inside Clarity Shift Mastermind, 10 months at AUD $2,000 per month ex GST, to bring the revenue-bonus decision to a room of founders and test it against the five-number scorecard. In a composite example, the rate lived only in the founder’s head. You leave with a one-page bonus decision: the per-million rate, the visibility rule and a monthly review.

## A bonus nobody can explain but you

- Staff cannot see how their work moves the revenue number.
- The bonus feels arbitrary when the month ends.
- You are the only one carrying the revenue story.

**THE MOMENT:** It is the monthly team meeting. You are explaining why the revenue bonus moved, and every person in the room has a different version of the number. One thinks it is tied to profit, one thinks it is tied to their own clients, one thinks it is a gift. The rate lives in your head. The revenue line lives in your accounts. Nobody else can see either.

### THE BONUS, AS IT STANDS

- The rate: in the founder’s head
- The revenue line: seen by the founder only
- The payout: announced at year end
- What it rewards: not written down
- Who can question it: nobody

## A rough revenue bonus, announced at year end

The founder announced a rough revenue bonus at year end. The intention was good: staff should feel the result they helped build. But the team could not connect the payout to anything they had done in March or July. A good year felt like luck, a weak one felt like a penalty, and the founder spent the following month explaining a decision nobody had seen being made.

## The team saw the payout, not the number behind it

Ivanka noticed that the team saw the payout but never the revenue number it was tied to. The bonus was announced once a year; the revenue line was never shown. So the scheme rewarded loyalty by accident and behaviour not at all. A table of founders who had paid bonuses themselves would ask the questions the founder had not.

## Not a reward problem. A visibility problem.

The bonus was not a reward problem first. It was a visibility problem. A rate per million of revenue only changes behaviour if the people earning it can see the revenue line move, month by month, and know what moves it.
The reframe: a bonus tied to revenue is a line of sight, not a loyalty scheme. So The Anchor Seat put the rate and the scorecard in the same room. The founder brought the decision to the table, seven other founders questioned it, and the founder left with one written commitment.

> A bonus tied to revenue is a line of sight, not a loyalty scheme.

**The cost of staying stuck:** If staff cannot see the revenue line, the bonus becomes a surprise and the founder carries the whole explanation, every month and every payout.

## The tool: The Anchor Seat

The Anchor Seat is how a Clarity Shift Mastermind session runs. Each month one founder takes the anchor seat with a real decision; the other seven ask questions and share what they have lived through, and everyone leaves with a written commitment. For a revenue bonus, the decision on the table is the rate, what it rewards and who can see it.

It is a monthly anchor decision brought to eight founders with Ivanka in the chair, ending in a one-page bonus decision: the per-million rate, what it rewards, the visibility rule and the monthly scorecard review.

It replaces a bonus rate that lives in the founder’s head, a payout announced once a year, and a month spent explaining a number nobody else could see.

### What goes on the page

1. The rate: $75 per million of revenue in the example; $200 per million shows how fast it scales
2. The behaviour: what the rate actually rewards, in one line
3. The visibility rule: the revenue line shown to everyone, every month
4. The owner: who explains the number when it moves
5. The room: seven founders who question it before it goes live
6. The review: the five-number scorecard, every month

It sits inside Clarity Shift Mastermind, alongside the five-number scorecard each founder shares every month. The room questions the decision; it does not set your pay terms, so take employment and tax questions to your own adviser. There is no separate checkout.

## The bonus decision in front of the room

In the founder’s anchor month, Ivanka put the revenue-bonus decision in front of the room and asked three questions. What behaviour does this bonus actually reward? Can every employee see the revenue line? What would make the number feel arbitrary? The other founders questioned the rate and shared what had happened with their own bonuses. The founder wrote a one-page bonus decision: the per-million rate, the visibility rule and a monthly scorecard review.

### The questions

- What behaviour does this bonus actually reward?
- Can every employee see the revenue line?
- What would make the number feel arbitrary?
- Who explains the number when it moves?
- When does the room see it again?

### THE SESSION, IN FOUR STEPS

1. The anchor: One founder brings the revenue-bonus decision.
2. The questions: Seven founders ask what it rewards and who can see it.
3. The experience: What happened when they paid bonuses themselves.
4. The commitment: One written bonus decision, read back next month.

Before the next session, the founder showed the revenue line at the monthly team meeting, explained the per-million rate once, and wrote down every question the team asked.

## A bonus the team can see coming

By month six, the founder has brought the revenue-bonus decision to the room, has one written commitment, and shares the five-number scorecard monthly.

**BEFORE**

- The rate lived in the founder’s head.
- The payout arrived once a year.
- Staff could not connect it to their work.
- The founder carried every explanation.

**BY MONTH 6**

- One written bonus decision with a per-million rate.
- The revenue line shown every month.
- The first bonus decision questioned in the room.
- The five-number scorecard shared monthly.

The container: 10 months of monthly two-hour group sessions with eight founders, plus two 1:1 check-ins each quarter.

## Your bonus decision belongs in front of the room

Ivanka Menken chairs the Clarity Shift Mastermind for a vetted group of eight founders of A$1M to A$10M businesses. One founder brings a real decision, the others question it, and everyone leaves with a commitment.
If you pay a revenue bonus that only you can explain, the decision in front of you is who can see the number. Bring it to a room that will ask what it rewards.

> Helps founders lead with clarity and integrity by modelling vulnerability, emotional intelligence, and grounded decision-making. Creates an environment where leaders can openly explore challenges and grow without fear of judgement.
>
> R.W., founder

## Who fits, and who does not

### It fits

- You run an A$1M to A$10M business and pay, or plan to pay, a revenue bonus.
- Your team cannot see the revenue line the bonus depends on.
- You are the only one who can explain the number.
- You will bring the decision to the room and write the commitment down.

### It does not fit

- You want a course or a masterclass.
- You want a done-for-you fix or a bonus scheme written for you.
- You want employment, tax or legal advice.
- You do not want seven founders questioning your decision.

### Investment

**AUD $2,000 per month ex GST, 10 months.** The Anchor Seat is part of Clarity Shift Mastermind, a 10-month peer programme at AUD $2,000 per month ex GST. It is not sold separately.

Included:

- 10 monthly two-hour group sessions
- Two 1:1 check-ins each quarter
- The five-number scorecard shared each month
- The one-page bonus decision

- [Apply for Clarity Shift Mastermind, AUD $2,000/mo, 10 months](mailto:ivanka@ivankamenken.com?subject=Clarity%20Shift%20Mastermind%20application)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=revenue-based-bonus-anchor-seat#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Clarity Shift Mastermind programme](https://ivankamenken.com/clarity-shift-mastermind)

## Questions about The Anchor Seat

### How do I design a revenue-based bonus?

Start with what it should reward and who can see it. Write the rate per million of revenue, the behaviour it pays for, how the revenue line is shown each month and who explains it. Ivanka Menken tests that design in the room inside Clarity Shift Mastermind, 10 months at AUD $2,000 per month ex GST. Take the pay terms to your own adviser.

### What rate per million is fair?

There is no single fair rate. The example on this page uses $75 per million of revenue, and $200 per million shows how quickly the payout scales. Fair depends on your margin, your team and what the rate rewards. Inside Clarity Shift Mastermind, 10 months at AUD $2,000 per month ex GST, Ivanka Menken and the room test your rate before it goes live.

### How often should the scorecard be reviewed?

Monthly. In Clarity Shift Mastermind every founder shares the five numbers at the start of each session, so a bonus tied to revenue is checked against the same scorecard every month, not once a year. Ivanka Menken chairs that review across the 10 months, at AUD $2,000 per month ex GST, with two 1:1 check-ins each quarter.

### Is Clarity Shift a course or done-for-you fix?

Neither. Clarity Shift Mastermind is a vetted peer group of eight founders, chaired by Ivanka Menken. You bring a real decision, the room questions it, and you leave with a written commitment. It runs 10 months at AUD $2,000 per month ex GST, by application. Nobody writes your bonus scheme for you.


## Bring the bonus decision to the room

If your revenue bonus only makes sense in your head, apply for Clarity Shift Mastermind. The Anchor Seat is how every session runs, and the 20-minute intro call is where you can see whether the room fits.

- [Apply for Clarity Shift Mastermind, AUD $2,000/mo, 10 months](mailto:ivanka@ivankamenken.com?subject=Clarity%20Shift%20Mastermind%20application)
- [Book a 20-minute intro call](https://theartofservice.zohobookings.com.au/?utm_source=ivankamenken&utm_medium=showcase&utm_campaign=revenue-based-bonus-anchor-seat#/15606000001356030)
- [See the Clarity Shift Mastermind programme](https://ivankamenken.com/clarity-shift-mastermind)
- [The Anchor Seat](https://ivankamenken.com/clarity-shift-mastermind#anchor-seat)
- [The five-number scorecard, free](https://ivankamenken.com/scorecard)
- [Find the decision behind a margin move](https://ivankamenken.com/margin-lift-review)
- [Write the bet before the event spend](https://ivankamenken.com/written-event-bet-sheet)

- Every way to work with Ivanka: https://ivankamenken.com/work-with-ivanka