3 Reasons You Should Have Hired an Executive Assistant Yesterday

The founders I coach often ask me when a good time is to hire an executive assistant. I often laugh at this question because the answer is usually last year. Most founder-CEOs can benefit from having an executive assistant, even at the early stages of their company.

The reason for this is that founders are often too deep in the trenches. They spend a lot of time managing their calendar or booking their personal travel arrangements. These are activities that waste time because they don’t add value to the business, which is what a founder should always be doing.

Often, I think founders are purposefully trying to avoid working on the things that matter the most. They know they should be reaching out to big customers, fundraising, or working on the other big-picture projects that founders should be doing. Instead, they want to get involved in the daily minutiae, which is not how best way to utilize their time.

With a good executive assistant, a founder can get out of the trenches and focus on their most important duties. A good assistant will also serve as a traffic cop. They can point emails and other messages to the right person, saving only the most important items for the founder. That way, founders aren’t wasting their time responding to messages that aren’t important or can be handled by someone else.

In my perfect world, the executive assistant creates two folders. One has the items that require the attention of the founder. The other folder is for everything else that the founder never looks at, because someone else can handle it. That way, the founder can stay focused on the work that their good at, outsourcing everything else. This is the role of a good executive assistant, and it’s why every founder should have already hired one.

As a part of three successful startup journeys, I’ve seen what works. But I’ve also seen the pitfalls that can prevent a good startup from reaching its full potential and achieving unicorn status. That’s why I’ve been able to coach dozens of startups through the midstage, helping them build the type of momentum that has propelled them to long-term success.

One key step along the way is identifying North Star metrics. With the North Star Metric Tool from the Midstage Institute, you can identify your key metrics, get your team aligned, and start growing faster.