The founder knows the offer, understands the buyer and can usually explain the value better than anyone else. It makes sense for them to lead early sales. The difficulty begins when every new conversation still depends on their availability.
Separate selling from starting conversations
A founder may need to lead important sales meetings. That does not mean they need to research every account, find every contact or remember every follow-up. Start by separating work that needs their judgement from work that needs an owner and a repeatable process.
Make the knowledge transferable
Write down who buys, what makes an account suitable, what usually starts a useful conversation and what makes a prospect a poor fit. Include objections and the language buyers actually use. A list of job titles is not enough to brief someone on your market.
Define the handoff before hiring
Agree what must be known before a meeting reaches the founder. That might include the account fit, the problem discussed, the person’s role and why they accepted the meeting. Without that definition, a new hire can be busy while still handing the founder most of the work.
Keep feedback in the calendar
A regular review of conversations matters more than a dashboard full of activity. Which accounts responded? What did they misunderstand? Which meetings were worthwhile? Use those answers to refine the brief.
Give the work somewhere to live
Assign ownership of the target list, next actions and follow-up dates. The first useful change is often modest: business development continues when the founder has a delivery-heavy week.