For EAs
Taking Over a Founder's Inbox Without Dropping Anything
You don't need to read 4,000 emails on day one. You need to find the 30 people who are waiting.
The first week with a founder's inbox feels like being handed someone else's brain with no index. The trick is to stop reading top down. Newest first is how things slip, because the thread that matters is usually nine days old and very quiet.
The ruleWhat your exec promised is more dangerous than what they received. Start in the sent folder, not the inbox.
Before you open anything
- Ask your exec for the 10 people who would be upset if they waited another week. Write them down, and notice the names they hesitate on. Those go first.
- Agree three buckets out loud: what you answer alone, what you draft for them, and what you never touch.
- Agree how they want the daily update. One message, decisions only, is a good default.
Day 1: build the three lists from the last 30 days
Threads where the last message is from someone else and asks for something: a reply, a decision, an intro.
Threads where your exec said "next week", "I'll send it" or "let me check" and nothing went out after. These are now yours.
Threads that mattered and went silent: a warm investor, a customer who stopped replying, an intro nobody closed.
The phrases that mean your exec owes someone guide has the exact searches to run.
Day 2: sort by who, not by when
- At the top: names from the "upset if they waited" list, anything with money in it, anything with a date in it.
- For each item, write one line: who, what they're waiting for, since when.
- Show your exec the list before you act. Ten minutes. They will remember things you can't see.
Day 3: close the oldest promise first
- Draft replies for the five oldest promises. Your exec sends, and you watch what they change. That's how you learn their voice.
- Never close a thread with "noted". If it can't be closed today, write down who's waiting and by when.
- Send the update before they ask. A short "here's who's waiting on you" every day is the job.
After that, the 10-minute morning routine keeps the lists alive. For the founder's side of the same handover, see the first 30 days with your first EA.
Or let it build the lists
Sidekick Log reads your exec's Gmail and shows who's waiting, what was promised and what went quiet. Read-only, it never sends.