Virtual Assistants for Startups

Common remote roles in startups

Early-stage teams need flexibility. The first remote hire is often a generalist who can take on whatever slows the founders down.

• Virtual or executive assistant

• Operations assistant

• Customer support specialist

• Sales or SDR support

• Bookkeeper

Tasks you can delegate

• Scheduling and inbox management

• Investor and customer research

• Vendor coordination and admin

• First-line customer support

• Basic bookkeeping and expense tracking

• Recruiting coordination for the next hires

Software your assistant will use

• Google Workspace, Slack and Notion

• HubSpot or a spreadsheet CRM

• Stripe, Ramp or Brex

• Linear, Jira or Trello

• Loom for async communication

Hiring considerations

Startups change quickly, so look for adaptability over narrow experience. Write down the first ninety days: a few clear outcomes and a weekly review. Hiring a generalist first often works better than trying to fill several specialist seats at once.

Example workflow: founder week

1. Monday: the assistant prepares a priorities list and the week’s calendar.

2. During the week, they triage email and handle routine requests.

3. Friday: they send a short update of what was completed and what is blocked.