Hi Preston, I took a look at this and here's my comments:
- Wrong ICP, "early stage founders" is not a buyer. They don't have enough email spam problems. Later-stage founders who do already have an EA.
- You're assuming the pain. People generally don't have problem with email scheduling. And if someone were truly spending 6+ hours a week on it, they would have already delegated.
- The messaging framing hurts you. The moment Persona is compared to a human EA, you lose on judgment, context, and trust.
What could work though,
- Narrow to a pathological edge case. One role, one moment, one acute pain.
Examples: solo VCs without EAs, boutique bankers mid-deal, lawyers coordinating multi-party calls under time pressure, founders actively fundraising without support.
- Reframe away from scheduling. Don’t sell logistics or efficiency. Sell control. This is a way more powerful messaging instead.
- Stop outbound. Insert parasitically into their workflow. Live where the pain already exists. Gmail plugins, CRM edges, investor update workflows. Be an appendage, not a destination.
- Accept that this may not be a standalone company. It may only survive as a feature inside a larger assistant or email client.
I know it's a bitter fruit but think about this and digest it. This isn’t about tactics. The problem doesn’t hurt enough for the people you’re targeting, at the moment you’re targeting them.