Work from a capacity model: ramped rep-months times expected productivity per segment, reconciled to the revenue plan — then check that total quota exceeds plan by a deliberate over-assignment factor you can state. Quota set top-down without a capacity model is a target, not a plan.
Two things get missed almost every time: ramp is treated as far shorter than it is, and managers are left out of the capacity math entirely. Model ramp from your own hire cohorts rather than assuming two weeks, and decide explicitly whether player-coach managers carry a number.
Every claim above comes from work LeanScale published. These are the sources.