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What I learned from this was that it is great (if you can afford it) to have an "amazing and indefatigable assistant". In Andreessen's case, this assistant, Ars

What I learned from this was that it is great (if you can afford it) to have an "amazing and indefatigable assistant". In Andreessen's case, this assistant, Arsho Avetian, is credited, but her contribution is not described beyond that. Some highly successful people employ staff that helps them produce. How does having staff benefit?

ghaff 6y ago
Once one gets to a certain level of being highly scheduled and more demands on their time than they can deal with: - Pre-screening - Making travel arrangements based on known preferences - Setting up meetings with other people who are hard to reach and also have busy schedules - Following up on various things And so forth. Not that I'm at that level but my understanding is that executive assistants can be incredibly helpful.
- ta1234567890 6y ago
  > Once one gets to a certain level of being highly scheduled If you can afford it, you can start doing it before you get too busy. In fact you can do it as a means of staying less busy (at least work/chore-wise).
  - SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
    To a degree. Most people wouldn't be able to get away with having an assistant handle things like meeting schedules.
    - ta1234567890 6y ago
      You'd be surprised. There are companies that you can outsource that kind of work to. You can also get a decent personal assistant for $200-300/month.
  - 082349872349872 6y ago
    Golf handicap: a number which reflects how many hours a week the holder spends in the office. (Even when I was a summer intern, I shared an admin who gave me leverage: she played phone tag, tracked down pricing and availability from vendors, and told everyone who was not explicitly whitelisted that I was "in a meeting." But we also had offices with doors back then too, so maybe it was a different world?)
jstandard 6y ago
I call it "disruption management". A strong assistant knows your priorities, often times better than you when you're being bombarded. They help manage the firehose of requests, logistics, details, and information to keep you focused on what's important.
sjg007 6y ago
If you can afford a nanny, hire one. It gives you flexibility at a minimum.

ghaff 6y ago

Once one gets to a certain level of being highly scheduled and more demands on their time than they can deal with: - Pre-screening - Making travel arrangements based on known preferences - Setting up meetings with other people who are hard to reach and also have busy schedules - Following up on various things And so forth. Not that I'm at that level but my understanding is that executive assistants can be incredibly helpful.

ta1234567890 6y ago
> Once one gets to a certain level of being highly scheduled If you can afford it, you can start doing it before you get too busy. In fact you can do it as a means of staying less busy (at least work/chore-wise).
- SpicyLemonZest 6y ago
  To a degree. Most people wouldn't be able to get away with having an assistant handle things like meeting schedules.
  - ta1234567890 6y ago
    You'd be surprised. There are companies that you can outsource that kind of work to. You can also get a decent personal assistant for $200-300/month.
- 082349872349872 6y ago
  Golf handicap: a number which reflects how many hours a week the holder spends in the office. (Even when I was a summer intern, I shared an admin who gave me leverage: she played phone tag, tracked down pricing and availability from vendors, and told everyone who was not explicitly whitelisted that I was "in a meeting." But we also had offices with doors back then too, so maybe it was a different world?)

jstandard 6y ago

I call it "disruption management". A strong assistant knows your priorities, often times better than you when you're being bombarded. They help manage the firehose of requests, logistics, details, and information to keep you focused on what's important.

sjg007 6y ago

If you can afford a nanny, hire one. It gives you flexibility at a minimum.