For founders with a business to lead

Executive assistants for founders

Your attention belongs on the decisions that need you. Give an assistant the preparation and follow-through around them. Knows The Drill recruits and prepares your assistant for your business, working style and agreed responsibilities before handoff.

Find your assistant

Walk into the conversation with the loose ends already gathered.

A partner needs an answer. A candidate needs a meeting. Someone on your team is waiting for the context you shared in another thread. Individually, these are small requests. Together, they turn the founder into the business's coordination desk.

An assistant can organize the requests, prepare the next conversation and track what happens after your decision. Start with the recurring work that crosses your inbox, calendar and team.

The work to hand off

Build a working rhythm around your decisions.

Prepare a decision brief

Bring related messages, options and missing information together before a request reaches you. Your assistant can identify the decision owner and the date an answer is needed, keeping assumptions separate from facts.

What you get back: A concise brief with sources and the decision needed

Coordinate meetings with context

Use your priorities, availability and preparation preferences to arrange meetings. Attach the purpose, people involved and relevant material, then flag requests that would displace protected time.

What you get back: A calendar with purposeful meetings and preparation attached

Track commitments after the call

Turn the actions you confirm into a shared list with owners and dates. Follow up with the responsible person and bring stalled work back with its history and the information needed to move it forward.

What you get back: An action list that shows what is waiting and why

Keep travel and personal logistics organized

Combine the preferences, constraints and appointments you provide into a practical itinerary. Gather confirmations, track requested changes and keep bookings that need your approval visible alongside the rest of your schedule.

What you get back: An itinerary with confirmed details and open choices

Illustrative workflow

From an incoming request to a completed handoff

Use this example to agree how much context you want before making a decision.

Capture

Assistant preparesRecord the request, source and requested response date.

You decideWhether it belongs with you or another owner.

Prepare

Assistant preparesCollect the options, relevant history and missing inputs.

You decideWhich information is necessary before deciding.

Resolve

Assistant preparesPresent the question in your preferred briefing format.

You decideThe direction, commitment or priority.

Follow through

Assistant preparesRecord your decision, notify the assigned owner and track the next action.

You decideAny exception that changes the original direction.

Illustrative example — not a client record

A founder's decision brief

Use this illustrative request to show how a brief brings the relevant choice into one place.

Request: Example entryChoose a date for the partner planning session.; What to provide or checkState the decision in one sentence.
Options: Example entryTuesday morning or Thursday afternoon; both work for the partner.; What to provide or checkSeparate confirmed availability from assumptions.
Constraint: Example entryTuesday overlaps the product review you asked to protect.; What to provide or checkInclude the priority affected by the choice.
Source: Example entryPartner email and the current team calendar.; What to provide or checkLink to the records behind the summary.
Next action: Example entryFounder chooses; assistant confirms attendees and sends the agenda.; What to provide or checkName the decision owner and the follow-through.

Ready to hand over when: The choices, constraint and source are visible, and the next action has a named owner.

Download the blank template (CSV)

No email required. The file includes field names and guidance, with blank spaces for your own inputs. Use it to describe the work during matching; keep private client information out of an initial inquiry.

Shape the role around the workload

Is your business ready for a founder's assistant?

A useful fit when

You repeatedly assemble context that already exists across the team.
Your decisions create follow-up that needs a consistent owner.

Discuss the setup first

Several leaders need support and someone must settle competing priorities.
You need operational authority or coverage beyond the hours agreed for one role.

Managed support provides a dedicated, full-time assistant. Direct-hire responsibilities, hours and employment terms are agreed during matching.

A clear mandate makes initiative useful.

Define what your assistant can move forward and what should come back to you. Give them a route to resolve competing requests without guessing your priorities.

You retain strategic, hiring, financial and contractual decisions.
Messages, purchases and bookings follow the authority and limits you agree.
Coverage hours, personal support and access to sensitive information are scoped during matching.

Bring us the week you want to run differently.

01Your recurring meetings and the time you want protected.
02Examples of requests that currently wait for your attention.
03Your communication tools and preferred decision-brief format.
04The people who can answer questions or approve work in your absence.

Recruit. Prepare. Hand over.

Recruited for you. Trained for your industry.

First, we discuss your niche and the work you want your assistant to own. Then we recruit and prepare them in depth for the industry and responsibilities agreed with you before handoff. The matching conversation defines the skills, tools and preparation time your role needs.

We assess English fluency, practical problem-solving and independent judgment, so your assistant can work through the next step and recognize when to bring you in.

Choose the support behind your hire.

Managed assistant

A dedicated, full-time assistant through our service, with ongoing support from our team. One monthly fee.

Explore managed support

Direct hire

We recruit and train an assistant for you to hire directly into your team. You manage the day-to-day. One placement fee.

Explore direct hiring

The examples on these pages are a starting point. Bring the broader range of work you want covered to the matching call. We agree responsibilities, preparation time, working hours, fees and terms before you start.

Before you bring someone on

Is this different from hiring an assistant for our industry?: The founder role centers on your decisions, relationships and commitments across the business. An industry role may instead own a particular operating queue, such as customer onboarding. We discuss which focus will remove the most recurring coordination from your week.
Can my assistant support both work and personal responsibilities?: Yes. Include personal scheduling, travel or household coordination in the matching conversation. We agree the scope, hours and decision limits alongside business responsibilities so both sets of requests have a workable priority order.
Do I need to document everything before we speak?: No. Bring a few real examples of a busy week and the requests that keep returning to you. We can use those to define the role, the information your assistant needs and the preparation required before handoff.
Can the assistant act as my chief of staff?: Describe the responsibilities behind that title. Preparing briefs and tracking commitments can fit an assistant role; setting company priorities, managing leaders or owning strategic decisions calls for a different level of authority and experience. We assess the actual work during matching.
Can I hire the assistant directly?: Yes. Direct hire covers recruitment and training for a placement fee, with hours and terms agreed for your role. Managed support provides a dedicated, full-time assistant through our service for a monthly fee and includes ongoing team support.

Make your next decision easier to reach.

Show us the requests that compete for your attention. We will help define a role around the preparation, judgment and follow-through your working week needs.

Find your assistant

A different kind of business?

Explore other ways to organize the work around your team.

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