[urbanstat]

In my experience, contractors do not own the product. It's a very technical product that requires communication between multiple stakeholders within the company and customers. License cost varies between $100k to $750k per year. Making the sales process very long (9-12 months).

[brudgers]

I was thinking consultant because the question made me think that there was uncertainty about product-market fit in the US in addition to the uncertainty regarding the role into which to hire. A consultant seemed like a way to get a clearer picture of the market before making the investment of a hiring decision.