Startups run lean.
And founders often wear too many hats — CEO, marketing, customer support, admin, operations, sales. That’s sustainable for a while… until it isn’t. The result? Your most valuable energy is spent on tasks someone else could – and probably should – do just as well.
The answer? Virtual assistants (VAs) can take over a variety of roles and tasks so you can focus on what only you can do.
This post distills insights from Eric Espinosa’s Midday Connect presentation on how startups can get the most from virtual assistants. You’ll learn exactly which roles to delegate, when and how to delegate, and how to manage them for maximum impact and efficiency.
What is a VA (Virtual Assistant)? Simply put, a VA is a remote worker who provides administrative, technical, or creative support.
Why Founders Can’t Do It All
Startup founders too often:
- Spend hours on admin instead of strategy
- Delay marketing campaigns because of bandwidth
- Juggle customer inquiries late at night
- Oversee dozens of small tasks that collectively drain focus
The result? Slower growth, more stress, and missed opportunities.
The Hidden Costs of Doing It Alone
When you fail to offload work:
Growth slows. Your startup won’t grow when you don’t have time for sales, partnerships, and product.
Burnout rises. The mental load of constant context-switching is exhausting, making you more likely to make costly mistakes.
Opportunities pass you by. You can’t seize growth moments if you’re behind on follow-ups and research or if you’re stuck in inbox zero.
Costs increase. Your high-value time is spent on low-value tasks.
Quality slips. Critical work gets rushed or skipped altogether.
Eric pointed out that these aren’t just inconveniences. They’re bottlenecks that directly impact revenue and funding readiness.
Delegating Startup Tasks to a VA
Hiring a VA is about delegating strategically so you can focus on what only you can do. Eric’s framework divides virtual assistant roles and tasks into five high-value categories:
1. Marketing Support
- Social media scheduling and engagement
- Blog formatting and publishing
- Email marketing setup and list management
- Light graphic design for ads or posts
- Competitor tracking
- Industry trend monitoring
Example: A VA schedules your next 30 days of LinkedIn posts, freeing you to write thought-leadership content instead.
2. Customer Success & Support
- Responding to customer inquiries
- Managing support tickets or chat queues
- Following up on post-purchase feedback
- Coordinating with fulfillment or tech teams
Tip: Provide clear escalation rules so your VA knows when to loop you in.
3. Sales Enablement
- Researching leads and compiling prospect lists
- Sending outreach emails and follow-ups
- Updating CRM records
- Scheduling discovery calls
- Following up with warm leads
Mini Case: A VA handles all your outbound email prep so your only job is to show up to qualified calls.
4. Administrative Support
- Inbox management: filtering, prioritizing, drafting responses
- Calendar management and scheduling
- Travel booking
- Data entry and file organization
- Expense tracking
- Creating SOPs, playbooks, and internal documentation for repeatable tasks
- Executive assistant
5. Creative Design Assistance
- Preparing pitch decks from your notes
- Designing simple marketing collateral
- Editing basic video clips for social media
- Coordinating with freelance designers for larger projects
How To Make It Work
Eric’s playbook for VA success:
1. Define & Document
List all repetitive, time-consuming tasks in your business. If it’s something you do more than once, it’s a candidate for delegation. Document it. The instinct is to “just do it yourself,” but the real win comes when you train once and hand it off forever. You should never be busy when your VA isn’t!
2. Keep a Backlog & Upskill List
Never let your VA sit idle. Maintain a backlog of tasks they can tackle when core work slows down. Pair this with an upskill list – courses, tools, or projects that build their capabilities over time.
3. Train with Purpose
Record quick video walkthroughs for each task. Video ensures clarity, consistency, and saves you from explaining the same thing twice.
4. Communicate Often
Hold daily or weekly check-ins. Clear expectations and consistent feedback prevent roadblocks, reduce ghosting, and keep priorities aligned.
5. Track Outcomes, Not Activity
Don’t micromanage hours. Focus on results that tie directly to your business goals. Adjust processes if needed – VAs thrive when workflows adapt to remote work.
6. Remove Bottlenecks
As trust grows, stop being the choke point. Delegate follow-ups, scheduling, or even running meetings. Get out of your own way so you can focus on strategy.
7. Scale Gradually
Start with 10-20 hours per week. Add responsibilities as your VA provides their capability. Growth comes from layering trust and responsibility over time.
Virtual assistant roles and tasks can include marketing support, customer service, sales enablement, administrative work, and creative assistance that startups can delegate to free up founder time and boost growth.
Hiring a VA is about creating space for your highest-impact work.
Start by offloading just one category. Try social media scheduling or inbox management. Watch how much more you can get done.
Could you delegate a repetitive task this week and reclaim that time for growth?
Eric’s Tip: “Start with one or two tasks you can hand off right away. Once your VA understands your workflow, you’ll quickly see more opportunities to delegate.
Presenter Links
Eric Espinosa on LinkedIn
Watch Eric’s full Midday Connect presentation
FAQs
A virtual assistant can handle marketing, customer support, sales tasks, admin work, creative projects and more so startup founders can focus on strategy and growth.
If you don’t have product-market fit, you’re probably not ready.
If you have at least 10-20 hours of repeatable tasks per week, you’re ready.
If you have a budget of $800/month, you can support a $12/hour VA.
Most virtual assistants are available to work in U.S. time zones. You can set clear working hours to ensure responsiveness and overlap with your schedule.
VAs typically work on a stable, set schedule. You’ll agree on specific hours of availability, and they’ll provide daily or weekly reports of completed tasks. This ensures consistent coverage rather than on-demand, irregular hours.
Yes. Roles that require immediate responsiveness, such as executive assistants or customer service, are best filled with full-time VAs to avoid long gaps in coverage.
Yes. VAs can schedule posts, engage with followers, and create basic graphics. Specialized VAs can also write posts, create videos, and organize content calendars. Personal brand outsourcing is not suggested. You can’t ask someone to portray your personal voice. But business social media can be outsourced successfully.
Provide brand guidelines, sample work, and ongoing feedback during the first few weeks.
Yes. Delegating low-value tasks often costs far less than doing them yourself, freeing you to generate revenue.
