What needs managing now?
Daily and weekly management includes seller coaching, pipeline inspection, deal support, accountability, forecasting and performance conversations. If those activities are missing, ask who will personally do them. A company can hire a senior executive and still leave this management gap open.
What needs building beyond the team?
Broader leadership may include market choices, organizational design, hiring plans, budgets and coordination with other executives. Write down the decisions the role must own and the outcomes it can reasonably influence. Do not rely on a title to settle responsibilities that have never been discussed.
Evaluate the proposed arrangement
Ask how much time the person will spend with sellers, how leadership will hear about risk and how performance issues will be handled. For fractional or interim work, agree on availability and escalation coverage. For a permanent hire, define the transition from founder ownership. Choose against the work required today and the next stage you can substantiate.