If you are a founder and your company is struggling to bring in revenue/sales it doesn't matter if you call yourself VP of sales or CEO of the world, your job is to make sure sales come in.
I've been in business for 5 years, been profitable for 2. Every single day is devoted to sales. I have a VP of sales and his job is dedicated to sales 60 hours a week. That still isn't enough.
No one is going to manage your company's sales funnel the way a founder does.
This is b2b sales, which is a totally different world than b2c sales. Business owners are very hard to reach, convince, and keep on the phone. In my experience the best people to hire for this job are the people that have a record of bringing in revenue in your niche. Your reps have to beleive in your product. This NYT article is not going to help their confidence. He is really going to need to go in there and make a huge Glen Gary speech to his sales people to get some blood pumping through their veins.