How do I spend my time on the things only I, the founder, can do?

The short answer

Ruthlessly separate the work that only you can do, vision, key hires, top-customer relationships, fundraising, from everything delegable, and defend it like your life depends on it. Everything else is a candidate for delegating, automating, or deleting. Your calendar is your real strategy document.

Go deeper, your way

2 hand-picked resources, 1 link-checked. Pick how you want to dig in.

📄 Article

✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it Altman's condensed operating manual for founders, including sharp guidance on focus, spending your time on what only you can do, and prioritization. Primary source, endlessly re-read.

Startup Playbook

From playbook.samaltman.com by Sam Altman long

A founder's job narrows to a few things: set the vision, hire well, and don't run out of money
Focus and intensity beat breadth, do a few things extremely well
Momentum and growth are the founder's core responsibilities
Protect your time for the highest-leverage work only you can do

Open playbook.samaltman.com →

📄 Article

Free Beginner

Why we picked it The essay that explains why one badly-placed meeting can destroy a founder's entire day of building, and what to do about it. Essential mental model for anyone who both makes and manages.

Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule

From paulgraham.com by Paul Graham short

Makers need time in half-day units; managers slice time into one-hour appointments
A single meeting can wreck a maker's whole afternoon by fragmenting the block
Batch meetings into designated windows to protect long stretches of deep work
Founders who both build and manage must consciously switch between the two modes

Open paulgraham.com →

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Also in How Founders Use AI

How founders actually use AI for this, over in Productivity.

Why let AI handle meeting notes, action items, and follow-ups (Granola, Fathom, Fireflies)? AI notetakers like Granola, Fathom, and Fireflies listen to your calls and turn them into clean notes, action items, and draft follow-up emails, so... 5 resources → How do founders get to inbox-zero with AI email tools (Superhuman AI, Gemini, Shortwave)? AI email tools do the triage for you: they sort mail into 'needs your reply', 'FYI', and 'noise', summarize long threads, and pre-write replies in ... 4 resources →

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