For founders
An executive assistant for founders, not for corporate calendars
Founders do not need a diary manager. You need someone who can hold context across a business that changes weekly, make sensible calls without asking, and stop being another person you have to manage.
Why founder support is a different job
A corporate executive assistant works inside a stable structure. The org chart is fixed, the meeting cadence is known, and the definition of the job barely moves from one quarter to the next.
None of that is true for you. Your priorities change with the pipeline. There is no ops team to route things to, so everything lands on you by default. And the work does not divide cleanly into business and personal — a delayed flight is a business problem when it costs you an investor meeting.
An assistant recruited for a corporate environment often struggles here, not from lack of skill but from lack of tolerance for ambiguity. They wait to be told. In a founder's business, waiting to be told is the failure mode.
We screen for the opposite: people who move without a brief, ask the right question rather than every question, and are comfortable being wrong occasionally in exchange for being fast.
5+ years
Operating experience across 20+ countries
48 hours
From onboarding to fully operational
Trial month
Pay after. Not before.
The first ninety days
What a founder actually hands over, in order
Delegation fails when it is attempted all at once. This is the sequence we onboard in, and the order we recommend.
- Week 1–2
Calendar
Scheduling, conflicts, buffers, travel time. Rules are explicit and errors are cheap, which makes it the right place to build trust.
- Week 2–4
Inbox triage
Sorting, flagging, and drafting replies for your approval. Not sending yet — that comes when the voice is right.
- Week 4–8
Travel and logistics
Full itineraries, rebooking during disruption, ground transport. High-value because it is the work you least want at 11pm.
- Week 8–12
Projects and follow-through
Chasing deadlines, preparing meetings, managing vendors, keeping the CRM honest. This is where an EA stops saving time and starts creating it.
What you get
Managed, so it does not become another management job
- A dedicated, proactive assistant who becomes your right hand
- Two-way matching with chemistry call — both sides confirm the fit
- Custom onboarding playbook, ready in 48 hours
- Recruitment, training, and performance management by us
- Backup EA coverage for absences
- HR, payroll, and compliance handled
- Weekly planning sessions on the Executive plan
- Trial month: pay after, not before
Questions founders ask
Common questions
When should a founder hire an executive assistant?
The usual signal is not workload, it is bottleneck. If decisions are waiting on you to reply, if you are the reason things stall, or if you are spending more than a day a week on scheduling, inbox and travel, you passed the threshold some time ago.
What should a founder delegate first?
Calendar, then inbox triage, then travel. In that order, because each one compounds. Calendar is the easiest to hand over cleanly, because the rules are explicit and the mistakes are cheap.
I have been burned by an assistant before. What is different?
Almost every failed first hire fails for one of three reasons: hired for skills rather than judgement, no structured onboarding, or no one managing them afterwards. We screen for judgement, build a written playbook before day one, and keep managing performance so that job does not land back on you.
How much does an executive assistant cost for a startup founder?
Fractional managed support is $1,500 per month and a dedicated full-time EA is $4,000 per month, both fully managed. A US direct hire is typically $55,000–$75,000 in salary before roughly 20–25% in employer taxes, benefits and equipment.
Will I have to manage them?
No, and that is the point of the managed model. We recruit, train, manage, and replace if needed. We handle performance management, quality assurance, backup coverage, HR, payroll, and compliance. You delegate.
Fifteen minutes, and an honest answer
Tell us where the week goes. If an assistant is not the right fix, we will say that rather than sell you one.
Book a 15-Minute Fit Call