> But just bringing in a hired gun is unlikely to result in success imo.
A thousand times, this is right on. Hired gun sales folk are generally going to follow the path of least resistance--they will try to get other people at your startup to do the boring/hard work they themselves ought to be doing. Or try to push through deals with lousy margins to get their revenue commission, or a dozen other pathological things. Plus, if you (founder) can't sell the thing, it's going to be super, super tricky to identify someone else who is even capable.
We tell our clients that they will always provide the last mile sales function (actually closing the deal). I say "people will always buy from the heart in the business over the hired gun outside the business. And the 'heart' is you."
If you are hiring for lead gen or biz dev then that's an investment like PPC or SEO...someone inside the building has to convert the sale.
A thousand times, this is right on. Hired gun sales folk are generally going to follow the path of least resistance--they will try to get other people at your startup to do the boring/hard work they themselves ought to be doing. Or try to push through deals with lousy margins to get their revenue commission, or a dozen other pathological things. Plus, if you (founder) can't sell the thing, it's going to be super, super tricky to identify someone else who is even capable.