Hire for a proven management and scaling requirement, not as a remedy for a founder who has not validated a repeatable sales motion. Start with a written problem description and compare a full-time VP against a player-coach, interim help, founder-led sales with enablement, or deferral.
Test whether the buyer definition, sales stages, conversion rates, sales-cycle variability and onboarding economics are known; whether sufficient pipeline can support the role; and what decisions the new hire will own. Ask who will train the hire and how performance will be judged at 30/60/90 days. Financial modelling can quantify the runway impact of each alternative. Burkland: Strategic Finance for Startups