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Goal: Delegate administrative tasks.
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A founder’s time is valuable—just because they can do something does not mean they should. The point of hiring an executive assistant (EA) is to “buy back” the time that they would otherwise spend doing lower-value work. I recommend getting an EA if you spend a lot of time on fundraising, hiring, or sales given the amount of associated logistics and prep work.
As a chief of staff who manages an EA, I am often asked what the difference is. Though CoS is seen as more prestigious, the truth is they are part of the same spectrum. I strongly recommend reading this guide from Bloom Talent (which is also a great EA recruiter).
In general, an EA helps with administrative tasks (see Administrative) with relatively limited scope and complexity. Work that requires deeper analysis, experience, and judgement falls more under CoS territory. You should get the level of EA that matches your needs, which will likely depend on whether you company has a non-technical co-founder and/or a CoS and how quickly you are growing.
High-level EAs command surprisingly high salaries—equal to or even more than those of CoS. It may a good option to use a virtual assistant (VA) as they are significantly less expensive. The most popular VA service is Athena, which uses VAs from the Philippines or anglophone Africa (to take advantage of lower labor costs).
VAs can be an effective if your needs are lower level. They will work in your desired timeline and have been trained on common administrative tasks. However, note that these services match you to a VA—you cannot interview or choose. They also require you to invest significant time upfront to teach the VA how you would like things done. In my experience, a successful VA partnership needs
You should not assume that your VA can produce effective work immediately or even in the near future. In general, I recommend getting a mid-to-high level EA who has done the job before, ideally at a startup or tech company. A good EA is worth the investment. And if your needs are very high, it may be more cost-effective to get a CoS instead.