8 ms·

If I would have that kind of spare money I'd like to have a private secretary who takes care of all the small things like booking flights, booking hotels, doing

If I would have that kind of spare money I'd like to have a private secretary who takes care of all the small things like booking flights, booking hotels, doing taxes, sorting mail, sorting documents, administrating my software licenses and netflix/github/dropbox/... subscriptions, and all those other things.

neals 10y ago
I didn't realize I want this. And thinking about it... I can afford this and might actually go and get this. A part time secretary of some sort... any startups doing this?
- forgotmyacc 10y ago
  read the 4-hour work week :)
- aesthetics1 10y ago
  Take a look at Magic (https://getmagic.com/signup https://getmagic.com/signup). If you are fine speaking with your assistant via text, this could be a good option.
  - jdc0589 10y ago
    part of me really wants to try magic. Has anyone here used them to arrange services/purchases/etc... when money was not unlimited? How good are they at figuring out what I'm willing to pay for stuff and working within those bounds? I'm not a total cheapskate (obviously, im considering using this crazy service), but I'm also fairly concerned about getting the best deal/value I can for things.
    - Bartweiss 10y ago
      I've only purchased through basic Magic, which applies a markup to your purchase instead of a flat rate. They were good at matching user preferences on simple stuff (get me a pizza), and had a healthy reluctance to go outside your stated preferences ("what with?" "surprise me" "are you sure, any specifics?"). The markup was substantial on a small purchase, but that's irrelevant for the hourly service. On the other hand, "get me a plane ticket from X to Y on Z day" quickly snowballed into enough expense and difficulty that my friend abandoned it and booked himself.
      - jdc0589 10y ago
        magic basic? I haven't seen any mention of that on their site anywhere. Regarding markup, their FAQ even says the following: > There is no markup on the purchases you make through Magic. You are charged the exact cost of the items plus the credit card processing fee. We find you the best deals that we can on every purchase, and we negotiate strongly with vendors. Often you will save more money using Magic than if you had done things yourself.
        Bartweiss 10y ago
        When they first came through HN, there was an option for a one-off request conducted by text with a feee attached to it. It may even have been the only option, I'm not sure. I don't see it listed anymore. I get the sense that they wanted to be a contract personal assistant and did the one-off thing to expose people to the service. Certainly it was a bit awkward since it required spending a bunch of time getting them set up with your info.
    - seanMeverett 10y ago
      Howdy. I used them and write up my thoughts with screenshots: https://humanizing.tech/beta-testing-magics-assistant-service-1c03ead6e669#.k83kvm1vy https://humanizing.tech/beta-testing-magics-assistant-servic...
forgotmyacc 10y ago
you can hire a virtual assistant for a 1/10 of that price
- CephalopodMD 10y ago
  And 1/10 the functionality?
  - throwaway2016a 10y ago
    I think the only thing in there that a virtual personal assistant wouldn't do is sorting papers. But if you scanned them they could also do that.
- arenaninja 10y ago
  $398/mo according to Zirtual
  - throwaway2016a 10y ago
    Yeah, $100 a month is really low. You could maybe get one of the "by the hour" virtual assistants for a few hours but any competent ones are going to want more than that.
stult 10y ago
If only you could find a (trustworthy and competent) secretary willing to work full time for $12k/year...
- Bartweiss 10y ago
  That's at 40 hours per week, though. I suspect most people interested in this service could get a lot of headaches dealt with at ~10 hours, which raises the possibility of a PA taking on four clients and making median salary. That's not going to get your grocery shopping done, but 10 hours/week seems like it would comfortably cover many people's paperwork/bureaucracy hassles.
  - jklinger410 10y ago
    This would be an awesome service. You have your emails auto-forwarded to them, you pay them for 10-14 hrs a week and send them any information you want them to process. Then they prepare daily emails or phone calls for you. These people could have like 3 or 4 clients a piece.
- antjanus 10y ago
  no one is saying full time. But I could see the value of being able to hit up someone when necessary, right? In fact, that person probably wouldn't do everything but would help "administer" it, eg. hire a CPA to do taxes (and audit them quarterly), occasionally book a flight or find a hotel, come in once a week to spend a few hours to sort through mail, etc. I hear a lot about "virtual assistants" but I imagine this person could fit in 4-5 clients per month which could mean $5K/month and that translates to a pretty good salary.
anandkulkarni 10y ago
I've done this (remote full-time assistant). It's well worth it.

neals 10y ago

I didn't realize I want this. And thinking about it... I can afford this and might actually go and get this. A part time secretary of some sort... any startups doing this?

forgotmyacc 10y ago
read the 4-hour work week :)
aesthetics1 10y ago
Take a look at Magic (https://getmagic.com/signup https://getmagic.com/signup). If you are fine speaking with your assistant via text, this could be a good option.
- jdc0589 10y ago
  part of me really wants to try magic. Has anyone here used them to arrange services/purchases/etc... when money was not unlimited? How good are they at figuring out what I'm willing to pay for stuff and working within those bounds? I'm not a total cheapskate (obviously, im considering using this crazy service), but I'm also fairly concerned about getting the best deal/value I can for things.
  - Bartweiss 10y ago
    I've only purchased through basic Magic, which applies a markup to your purchase instead of a flat rate. They were good at matching user preferences on simple stuff (get me a pizza), and had a healthy reluctance to go outside your stated preferences ("what with?" "surprise me" "are you sure, any specifics?"). The markup was substantial on a small purchase, but that's irrelevant for the hourly service. On the other hand, "get me a plane ticket from X to Y on Z day" quickly snowballed into enough expense and difficulty that my friend abandoned it and booked himself.
    - jdc0589 10y ago
      magic basic? I haven't seen any mention of that on their site anywhere. Regarding markup, their FAQ even says the following: > There is no markup on the purchases you make through Magic. You are charged the exact cost of the items plus the credit card processing fee. We find you the best deals that we can on every purchase, and we negotiate strongly with vendors. Often you will save more money using Magic than if you had done things yourself.
      - Bartweiss 10y ago
        When they first came through HN, there was an option for a one-off request conducted by text with a feee attached to it. It may even have been the only option, I'm not sure. I don't see it listed anymore. I get the sense that they wanted to be a contract personal assistant and did the one-off thing to expose people to the service. Certainly it was a bit awkward since it required spending a bunch of time getting them set up with your info.
  - seanMeverett 10y ago
    Howdy. I used them and write up my thoughts with screenshots: https://humanizing.tech/beta-testing-magics-assistant-service-1c03ead6e669#.k83kvm1vy https://humanizing.tech/beta-testing-magics-assistant-servic...

forgotmyacc 10y ago

you can hire a virtual assistant for a 1/10 of that price

CephalopodMD 10y ago
And 1/10 the functionality?
- throwaway2016a 10y ago
  I think the only thing in there that a virtual personal assistant wouldn't do is sorting papers. But if you scanned them they could also do that.
arenaninja 10y ago
$398/mo according to Zirtual
- throwaway2016a 10y ago
  Yeah, $100 a month is really low. You could maybe get one of the "by the hour" virtual assistants for a few hours but any competent ones are going to want more than that.

stult 10y ago

If only you could find a (trustworthy and competent) secretary willing to work full time for $12k/year...

Bartweiss 10y ago
That's at 40 hours per week, though. I suspect most people interested in this service could get a lot of headaches dealt with at ~10 hours, which raises the possibility of a PA taking on four clients and making median salary. That's not going to get your grocery shopping done, but 10 hours/week seems like it would comfortably cover many people's paperwork/bureaucracy hassles.
- jklinger410 10y ago
  This would be an awesome service. You have your emails auto-forwarded to them, you pay them for 10-14 hrs a week and send them any information you want them to process. Then they prepare daily emails or phone calls for you. These people could have like 3 or 4 clients a piece.
antjanus 10y ago
no one is saying full time. But I could see the value of being able to hit up someone when necessary, right? In fact, that person probably wouldn't do everything but would help "administer" it, eg. hire a CPA to do taxes (and audit them quarterly), occasionally book a flight or find a hotel, come in once a week to spend a few hours to sort through mail, etc. I hear a lot about "virtual assistants" but I imagine this person could fit in 4-5 clients per month which could mean $5K/month and that translates to a pretty good salary.

anandkulkarni 10y ago

I've done this (remote full-time assistant). It's well worth it.