Most founder-led firms grow the same way. The founder sells, delivery is excellent, word gets around, and revenue climbs for years without anyone ever building a sales function.
Then it flattens. Not because the market changed, but because the founder ran out of hours and there is nothing underneath him. No pipeline that does not start with him. No defined process. No qualification standard. No forecast anyone believes. No compensation plan driving the right behavior. Hiring a salesperson does not fix it, because there is nothing for them to plug into.
I spent ten years building exactly that missing layer at a consultancy that grew from $8M to $50M, and I carried a number the entire time. I do it now for firms that need the system but are not ready to carry a full-time Chief Sales Officer.