Every hardware startup hits the same inflection point.
A prototype exists that proves the technology works. There's a lead customer lined up to test it, and seed investors have taken interest. The founder has been doing everything right, hired only engineers to this point, and handled everything else — planning, hiring, accounting, board reporting — alone. All the non-technical chairs in the company are empty.
But now field trials need to run. The fundraise is coming. The prototype needs to become a product. All those chairs can't stay empty.
This is the moment founders get wrong. They burn out trying to do it all. Or hire junior people who are learning on the job even though the startup can't afford mistakes. Or cobble together unpaid advisors who each give a few hours a month — fragmented advice, nobody owning anything.
The better answer? Hire one experienced operator who can sit in any of those chairs and get it right the first time, because it isn't their first time.