Quota
A quota is the revenue or deal target a salesperson is expected to hit in a set period, usually a month, quarter or year. It's the yardstick a sales role is measured against, and it underpins commission, forecasting and capacity planning. A healthy quota is set so a competent rep can reasonably reach it while stretching, commonly four to six times their on-target earnings, so the role pays for itself with margin to spare.
For a founder, quota is how you turn a revenue goal into a hiring plan. If you need 1.2 million in new sales and a rep carries a 300,000 quota, you can see you need four productive reps, plus ramp time before they're productive. Setting quota too high demoralises the team and inflates your forecast; setting it too low burns cash on under-leveraged hires. Quota also keeps you honest about whether your own founder-led selling is scalable.