Rob Walling

Now, delegating is a balance, especially in this early stage, if you're bootstrapping, because oftentimes you should delegate or outsource a bunch of things, but you don't have the money, right? You don't have the luxury of a funded competitor who can hire a chief of staff on day one or who can hire a staff to do things that you don't want to do.

Now, delegating is a balance, especially in this early stage, if you're bootstrapping, because oftentimes you should delegate or outsource a bunch of things, but you don't have the money, right? You don't have the luxury of a funded competitor who can hire a chief of staff on day one or who can hire a staff to do things that you don't want to do.

So there is this balance between your willingness to delegate and the budget you have to do so. But with that said, I think a couple things that I commonly see founders keep doing that they shouldn't be doing in these early stages are things like bookkeeping or doing your own books in general, doing your own accounting, not hiring a CPA, DIYing your own legal.

So there is this balance between your willingness to delegate and the budget you have to do so. But with that said, I think a couple things that I commonly see founders keep doing that they shouldn't be doing in these early stages are things like bookkeeping or doing your own books in general, doing your own accounting, not hiring a CPA, DIYing your own legal.

This is one that I did a couple times. I never, knock on wood, wound up regretting it, but certainly things that I could easily have regretted had those gone sideways when I downloaded a template for a contract and edited it myself. I think founders who are doing audio video editing in the early days are doing themselves quite a disservice. Audio and video editing are so fulfilling.

This is one that I did a couple times. I never, knock on wood, wound up regretting it, but certainly things that I could easily have regretted had those gone sideways when I downloaded a template for a contract and edited it myself. I think founders who are doing audio video editing in the early days are doing themselves quite a disservice. Audio and video editing are so fulfilling.

I don't know if you've done it, but it just feels like you're getting stuff done. You're doing something with your hands. And when you ship it, it's a better end product. It feels really good to do, but it is a tremendous waste of time because audio and video editors, even really good ones, are, what, $15 to $30 an hour?

I don't know if you've done it, but it just feels like you're getting stuff done. You're doing something with your hands. And when you ship it, it's a better end product. It feels really good to do, but it is a tremendous waste of time because audio and video editors, even really good ones, are, what, $15 to $30 an hour?

I mean, obviously more expensive and less expensive, but this is an easy one to outsource. Another one that I see founders doing and kind of making a reason for it is continuing to handle their email and live chat support.

I mean, obviously more expensive and less expensive, but this is an easy one to outsource. Another one that I see founders doing and kind of making a reason for it is continuing to handle their email and live chat support.

Now, this one depends because if you're doing high-touch sales with a high-ticket product and you're only doing a few sales now and again, then you probably don't need a support person. But if you do have a wider funnel, a lower-touch funnel where you have a lot of volume coming through, email support and live chat support, if you offer it, are some of the first things that I look to outsource.

Now, this one depends because if you're doing high-touch sales with a high-ticket product and you're only doing a few sales now and again, then you probably don't need a support person. But if you do have a wider funnel, a lower-touch funnel where you have a lot of volume coming through, email support and live chat support, if you offer it, are some of the first things that I look to outsource.

Now, the reason I hear a lot of founders keep doing it for way too long is, well, it's only 30 minutes a day, and I want to be in communication with my customers. This is the way I keep in touch and get their feedback and hear what should develop in the product. Now, both of those are kind of reasonable.

Now, the reason I hear a lot of founders keep doing it for way too long is, well, it's only 30 minutes a day, and I want to be in communication with my customers. This is the way I keep in touch and get their feedback and hear what should develop in the product. Now, both of those are kind of reasonable.

However, I will say that with pretty much every product I've launched, I have hired part-time support help. Sometimes that Part-time support help would swing across multiple products I owned. Sometimes I would just overpay them for the hours they were working to say, look, you get a minimum of 10 hours a week.

However, I will say that with pretty much every product I've launched, I have hired part-time support help. Sometimes that Part-time support help would swing across multiple products I owned. Sometimes I would just overpay them for the hours they were working to say, look, you get a minimum of 10 hours a week.

I know I don't have 10 hours of support yet, but I'm going to bring you in and you can write KB docs or you can help with onboarding or, you know, there's a ton of other stuff that I can find, depending on your skill set, I can find for you to do to kind of fill that time. So even if you don't have a ton of support or it's sporadic, I've always figured out a way around that.

I know I don't have 10 hours of support yet, but I'm going to bring you in and you can write KB docs or you can help with onboarding or, you know, there's a ton of other stuff that I can find, depending on your skill set, I can find for you to do to kind of fill that time. So even if you don't have a ton of support or it's sporadic, I've always figured out a way around that.

So I just don't believe it as an excuse because it's never one that I've used and I've always outsourced support within a few months of taking over or launching an application. The other thing about not being in touch with your customers is that I tend to be known for being in really close contact with my customers.

So I just don't believe it as an excuse because it's never one that I've used and I've always outsourced support within a few months of taking over or launching an application. The other thing about not being in touch with your customers is that I tend to be known for being in really close contact with my customers.