The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 23 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Leaders should delay company-wide crisis disclosure until an actionable plan exists
“You want to ultimately be transparent, but if I just walked into a new class and say, hey, the business might be dead it's not gonna work, and so you have to kind of get a handle of the situation you know, the people who need to know it, and then once there's …”
Trillion-dollar companies cannot be built through startup incubation studios
“I think the biggest companies aren't incubated because the biggest companies have a founder who is monomaniacal from the beginning and compounds it for 50 years.”
Founders who do not hire an assistant end up being the assistant
“My view here for founders is if you don't have an assistant, you are the assistant, and you don't want to be the assistant.”
Advanced delegation requires exporting internal preferences to delegate by algorithm
“The kind of entry-level delegation is you delegate by task. You say, help me plan this dinner party. If you just say that, you're not gonna get what you want. The more advanced way to delegate is called delegate by algorithm, where you actually export your own…”
Remote teams build communication debt and need bi-monthly in-person gatherings
“Remote cultures build up debt of just the lack of bandwidth. And so if you are in a remote culture, you should get together every couple of months for a few days in person.”
Top executive assistants only perform as well as their delegator
“If you look at the best performing assistants at Athena, they work for the best delegators. It's not a coincidence. The reason they're the best is because someone has figured out how to export their ideas Decompose projects, create SOPs in a way that helps the…”
Traditional interviews fail for C-suite executives because they excel at interviewing
“One thing that is obvious as you hire execs is the more senior they go, the better they are interviewing. Almost by definition, and so when you get to C-Suite, they all are really good at interviewing, and so you actually have to discard the interview more the…”
Trusted peer networks outperform executive recruiters for sourcing talent
“Using an exec recruiter, you spend three months, you get all this cold leads, but going through a network of high bar people is super efficient.”
Standard interviewing fails because it does not test actual work
“The interview process is not representative of the work they're doing, and that's ultimately what's broken about interviewing, is interviewing should be someone doing the work they're gonna do.”
Only one co-founder goes the distance as a technology startup scales
“And now, a decade later, I'm like, of course, there is only one co-founder that goes the distance, because ultimately, as you scale the org, it only makes sense to have one person on top.”
Most people should operate in 'war mode' 90% of the time
“Well, most people should actually be in war mode, like, 90% of the time, and that same Yeah, hardcore-ness is just like, the right would operate.”
Reviewing a routine list of lawsuits at board meetings signals startup scale
“Well, it's like the first time you get sued, or you're worried about getting sued, and then eventually you have a board meeting, and there's just a list of lawsuits, and it's just, you review them quarterly. It's just like, that's actually what success is. It'…”
Achieving leverage requires overcoming the initial inefficiency of delegation
“Cardinal sin of delegation is that it will be faster or better to do it myself. And the reason it's a blocker is because it's true. But the only way you get leverage is by going through that work.”
AI prompt engineering is fundamentally an exercise in delegation
“And prompt engineering is really just delegating.”
Switching assistants annually destroys compounding operational leverage
“The second mistake people make is they don't compound for the long term, and they hire someone, and then switch an assistant every six, 12 months, but it's the compounding that creates incredible leverage. I've been working with Marnie for a decade, like a lit…”
Voice messaging is the fastest and most effective way to delegate
“You know, the most common way people delegate is with your thumbs and your phone. That's the worst way. Very slow. Better use all 10 fingers at a computer, but that's actually pretty slow as well. The best way to really delay is using your voice. And so voice,…”
A new executive assistant's first project should be saving their own salary
“So the first thing I'd recommend if you're getting an assistant is to have them help you save money. If you have a big budget, not a big deal, but the first project can be, Hey, help. Pay for your salary by looking through all my subscriptions, finding things …”
Grant assistant access in stages, starting with email before banking
“Obviously, you need someone you truly trust to go deep with, and we kind of recommend that you build this trust over time, and, you know, you give email and calendar access at first and bank account later but as you earn that trust, then the more access you gi…”
A power law applies to goals; one quarterly outcome outweighs all others
“There's a power law in everything, and power law in business, power law in venture, power law in your life, and there's typically one thing every month or quarter that if you accomplish is worth more than everything else combined, and figuring out what that on…”
Calendar audits reveal if founders are actually executing on top goals
“And if you look back on the last month and the calendar does not reflect your highest goals, then you're not doing it right.”
Hire executive assistants for decade-long tenure and chiefs of staff for slope
“The way I break it down is, assistant, you find someone you want to go a decade with. The intimacy and the compound, you know, that relationship is super important. And so you go deep, and that means you, Probably don't find a founder, because they're not gonn…”
Personal leverage from executive assistants drives ambition, not vice versa
“People assume that people of great power or wealth or resources can afford this team. And then that is why they have this ambition. But we've actually seen the opposite is the case, is as people get more leverage with Assistant, their ambition increases.”
Second-time founders focus on strengths and hire for weaknesses
“A second time founder is like, forgive all my weaknesses. I'm just not even gonna try. I'm just gonna be really good at my strengths. And I'm gonna hire other people to do all the things I'm not good at. And that is way more effective.”