Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218

2025-12-04 · 57 min · episode 2218 · 22 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ appeared on This Week in Startups podcast

0.68

evidence rules-v5
Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218
→ references The Checklist Manifesto book

0.62

evidence rules-v5
um days, where Jason invested in Jonathan's previous company, Thumbtack, praise the "Checklist Manifesto," discuss the telltale signs you've achieved market pull, and lots more insight
→ hosted by Jason Calacanis person

0.55

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Jason Calacanis
→ discusses Technology company

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology
→ references Twist website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://gusto.com/twist
→ references Build website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": http://crusoe.ai/build
→ references AlexLinkedIn website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://x.com/alexLinkedIn:
→ references ticker.thisweekinstartups.comcheck website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comcheck/
→ references JasonLinkedIn website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn:
→ references Lons⁠Follow website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://x.com/lons*Follow
→ references Twist 32:11 website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://gusto.com/twist(32:11

Entities found in this episode

websites 14

mentioned Twist website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://northwestregisteredagent.com/twist
mentioned Build website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": http://crusoe.ai/build
mentioned AlexLinkedIn website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://x.com/alexLinkedIn:
mentioned ticker.thisweekinstartups.comcheck website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comcheck/
mentioned JasonLinkedIn website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn:
mentioned Lons⁠Follow website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://x.com/lons*Follow
mentioned Twist 32:11 website

0.45

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://gusto.com/twist(32:11
references Twist website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://gusto.com/twist
references Build website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": http://crusoe.ai/build
references AlexLinkedIn website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://x.com/alexLinkedIn:
references ticker.thisweekinstartups.comcheck website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comcheck/
references JasonLinkedIn website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn:
references Lons⁠Follow website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://x.com/lons*Follow
references Twist 32:11 website

0.38

evidence rules-v5
Link in episode "Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218": https://gusto.com/twist(32:11

persons 3

mentioned Jonathan Swanson of Athena person

0.72

evidence rules-v5
Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218
mentioned Jason Calacanis person

0.70

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Jason Calacanis
hosted by Jason Calacanis person

0.55

evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: Jason Calacanis

books 2

mentioned The Checklist Manifesto book

0.73

evidence rules-v5
um days, where Jason invested in Jonathan's previous company, Thumbtack, praise the "Checklist Manifesto," discuss the telltale signs you've achieved market pull, and lots more insight
references The Checklist Manifesto book

0.62

evidence rules-v5
um days, where Jason invested in Jonathan's previous company, Thumbtack, praise the "Checklist Manifesto," discuss the telltale signs you've achieved market pull, and lots more insight

companys 2

mentioned Technology company

0.50

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology
discusses Technology company

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Technology

podcasts 1

appeared on This Week in Startups podcast

0.68

evidence rules-v5
Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegating" with Jonathan Swanson of Athena | E2218

Episode description as stored

This Week In Startups is made possible by: Northwest Registered Agent - https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist Crusoe - http://crusoe.ai/build Gusto - https://www.gusto.com/twist Today's show: Delegating is its own unique skill, requiring training and a real investment of time and attention. On TWiST, Jason chats for a full hour with the founder of one of his favorite startups, Athena, which trains online assistants and pairs them with busy founders and executives. (Jason has 2!) But getting the MOST out of your executive assistants is less obvious than it looks. Jonathan unpacks some of the secrets to "Black Diamond Delegating," and how he manages to keep 6 different high-level helpers operating at once. Plus, Jason and Jonathan look back at the Open Angel Forum days, where Jason invested in Jonathan's previous company, Thumbtack, praise the "Checklist Manifesto," discuss the telltale signs you've achieved market pull, and lots more insights. Timestamps: (01:53) We're joined by Jonathan Swanson from one of JCal's fav startups, Athena!(02:02) Jason and Jonathan first met during the Open Angel Forum, when Jonathan was working on Thumbtack(06:44) Finding the "little touches" that can help make an app more delightful(9:47) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(12:05) The shift from Thumbtack to Athena was all about time(12:52) How Jonathan delegates to 6 exec assistants at once(14:22) Pricing Athena's EAs: Jason runs the numbers(15:09) Why Athena made Jason believe in hiring assistants again(18:15) Getting past the "Cardinal Sins of Delegation"(19:38) Crusoe Cloud: Crusoe is the AI factory company. Reliable infrastructure and expert support. Visit https://crusoe.ai/build to reserve your capacity for the latest GPUs today.(20:48) Will AI ever be able to replace Athena assistants?(23:41) Inside how Athena finds and trains assistants from around the world(27:01) How JCal became an Athena Ambassador… and almost crashed the system!(30:55) Gusto - Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at https://www.gusto.com/twist(32:11) The magic of having assistants work on "backstop projects" and creative tasks(37:14) How to know when you have achieved market pull(40:05) Why getting the most out of delegating takes real investment and training(44:36) More praise for the Checklist Manifesto(46:26) Jonathan gives us a peek at what "Black Diamond Delegation" looks like(52:14) Jason's early experiences hiring overseas assistants, from the Mahalo days*Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.comCheck out the TWIST500: https://twist500.comSubscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp*Follow Lon:X: https://x.com/lons*Follow Alex:X: https://x.com/alexLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwilhelm/*Follow Jason:X: https://twitter.com/JasonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis/*Thank you to our partners:(9:47) Northwest Registered Agent - Form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today!(19:38) Crusoe Cloud: Crusoe is the AI factory company. Reliable infrastructure and expert support. Visit https://crusoe.ai/build to reserve your capacity for the latest GPUs today.(30:55) Gusto - Check out the online payroll and benefits experts with software built specifically for small business and startups. Try Gusto today and get three months FREE at https://www.gusto.com/twist