When to buy a function instead of hiring for it

Every post-MVP founder hits the same wall. The product works, something is selling, and now the company needs a function it has never had: a sales motion, a finance stack, a hiring process.

The instinct is to hire a senior person to own it. Sometimes that is right. Often it is the most expensive way to find out you were wrong about what the function needed to be.

The real cost of the first senior hire

• Three months to find them
• Three months before you can judge the work
• A permanent salary line from day one, regardless

That is two quarters and a burn increase spent on an unvalidated bet.

What renting it looks like

Under a Build, Operate & Transfer engagement, an operator who has built the function before builds it inside your business, runs it against real numbers, and hands it over once it consistently performs. You hire into a role that already has a playbook, which is a much easier role to hire for.

When it does not apply

If you are pre-MVP, this is not your problem yet. Go build the thing people want first.