Want To Earn More? Sure. Live Somewhere Else? Why Not? The Company That Can't Say No

ANTHONY SALADINO, 26, made more than $100,000 last year—but he doesn’t have a fixed salary. He’s an account manager, helping clients like the fashion brand Alexander Wang get the perfect position in the search results when you Google “fashion” or “designer.” His income reflects how much the clients pay his company. Saladino works for Elite SEM, a digital marketing business based in New York City, whose CEO allows employees to select their compensation: straight salary or a commission-based hybrid. In either case, there are opportunities for addons. Ben Kirshner, the company’s 39-year-old founder and chief executive, doesn’t mince words: “One of my greatest frustrations when I was 21 was that I wasn’t getting paid what people with more experience were being paid,” he says.

- Zoe Henry

So he started a business that, at least when it comes to compensation, is age- and experience-blind. Millennials, who have suffered from lower starting wages in the post-recession world, are keen to catch up. Specifically, Elite account managers earn, on average, 50 percent of the revenue their clients generate; the rest of their paycheck is based on how the company performs. The greater the revenue, the more they make. There are, of course, risks to the meritocratic approach. For one, workers must come to terms with the fact that their paychecks could shrink. “I was a little nervous at first, especially because I came from jobs with a flat salary,” concedes Saladino. For those who aren’t directly involved with clients, there are other ways to enhance salary: They earn a commission when they refer an employee to the company—which accrues every y