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    Jonathan Swanson

    Entrepreneur and Former West Wing Staffer

    Jonathan Swanson is the Founder and Chairman of Athena, a company that provides human plus AI assistant services.1 Here are some key details about Jonathan Swanson:

    Professional Experience

    • Athena: Founded in 2020, Athena matches clients with top 1% executive assistants and trains them to delegate 10 times more effectively.2 The company has grown to 2,000 full-time employees and over 1,000 clients in just four years, with a 100% year-over-year growth rate.1

    • Thumbtack: Founder and Chairman since 2009. Thumbtack is a platform that helps small businesses earn billions of dollars annually.2

    • Powerset: Founder since September 2022. Powerset is a platform where top technical founders can obtain their own $1M+ fund for angel investing.2

    • The White House: Served as a West Wing staffer from 2006 to 2009, where he created financial market reports for the President during the financial crisis.2

    Education

    • Bachelor of Arts from Yale University (2001-2006)
    • Studied at Oxford University in 20042

    Athena's Business Model

    Athena provides full-time human assistants based in the Philippines or Kenya for $3,000 per month. These assistants are increasingly powered by AI, with dozens of machine learning models supporting their work.1

    Vision for AI Integration

    Jonathan Swanson aims to leverage AI to significantly increase the productivity of Athena's assistants, potentially doubling or tripling their output. This could lead to improved profit margins and the ability to break the one-to-one client-assistant match.1

    Jonathan Swanson is known for his expertise in delegation and time management, which he applies to both his business ventures and personal productivity strategies.3

    Highlights

    Nov 5 · twitter

    Steve Job's most fundamental skill wasn't design or technology. It was team building.

    When asked about his proudest creation, he didn't say the iPhone or Mac. He said the Apple team.

    Last night, I found his 90-second-clip on hiring truly gifted people: 🧵 https://t.co/J96nnIQGS9

    Steve Job's most fundamental skill wasn't design or technology.
It was team building.

When asked ab
    Sep 23 · twitter

    Elon runs six multi billion-dollar companies simultaneously (SpaceX, Tesla, X, xAI, Neuralink, and Boring Company)

    Most founders can’t run one.

    Walter Isaacson (who spent a year shadowing Elon and wrote his biography) explains ‘How Elon does it’ on a podcast

    Thread 🧵 https://t.co/gfbwFUaXLw

    Elon runs six multi billion-dollar companies simultaneously (SpaceX, Tesla, X, xAI, Neuralink, and B
    Aug 13 · youtube.com
    Jonathan Swanson at the KV CEO Summit 2024 - YouTube
    Jonathan Swanson at the KV CEO Summit 2024 - YouTube
    Jan 27 · houck.news
    World Class Delegation (from a Unicorn Founder) - Houck's Newsletter

    Related Questions

    What inspired Jonathan Swanson to start Athena?
    How did Jonathan Swanson's experience at the White House influence his entrepreneurial journey?
    What are the key AI technologies powering Athena's human plus machine assistants?
    How has Athena's growth been over the past four years?
    What challenges did Jonathan face while bootstrapping Athena?
    Jonathan Swanson
    Jonathan Swanson, photo 1
    Jonathan Swanson, photo 2
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    Experience

    Founder & Chairman at Athena; Founder at Powerset; Founder & Chairman at Thumbtack
    West Wing Staffer at The White House, 2006 - 2009

    Education

    Bachelor of Arts from Yale University, 2001 - 2006; Attended Oxford University, 2004

    Location

    United States