I would add that someone on the early team needs to be "getting out of the building," to use the appropriate lingo, and doing customer development. This is time

I would add that someone on the early team needs to be "getting out of the building," to use the appropriate lingo, and doing customer development. This is time consuming, non-scaling, shoe leather work. Ideally, yes, this person should be the founder, or at least a founder. But oftentimes, founders are too enamored of their ideas and their early visions to solicit and absorb honest feedback. They rationalize criticisms, or solicit feedback only from friends and industry connections. This is a surprisingly common, and extremely easy trap to fall into. I'm not saying the hypothetical founder needs a sales and/or marketing person on Day One, but he should recognize his strengths and weaknesses, and hire to supplement the latter.