Athena founder Jonathan Swanson discusses executive delegation habits based on working with over a thousand founders and executives at venture-backed startups.
0:00 / 0:19exact quote · 19.7s
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“Most CEOs
And founders are actually pretty mediocre delegators.
when it comes to working with an assistant we've worked with, you know, a thousand plus at Athena and some of the best YC Sequoia back companies, and most founders never graduate beyond the kind of beginner levels.”
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