That's just allocation of risk to return. It can be negotiated and modelled in several ways; you're familiar with this: Some sales people make commissions. Some

That's just allocation of risk to return. It can be negotiated and modelled in several ways; you're familiar with this: Some sales people make commissions. Some HR managers get salaries. Some engineers get salaries plus equity plus profit sharing. It's easier to move risk onto labour if they labour has more direct control over the return, which is why sales people are more comfortable with direct commissions than engineers. Because my consulting practice is based on operational improvements and not ownership of the end result, I don't work on a commission basis but on value-based pricing.