Clients: Christie Pitts, General Partner and Chacho Valadez, Principal at Backstage Capital
Focus: Backstage Capital is an early stage venture capital firm. To date, Backstage Capital has invested in more than 175 companies led by underrepresented founders.
What Life Was Like Before Inbox Done
At any given point in time, more work could come in [to the inbox] and it would just pile up and pile up.”
Both Christie and Chacho considered their inboxes to be the place where critical information was stored and executed upon.
“Every email didn’t have a specific to-do, but I needed to be in the loop. I was taking in a lot of information on a given day,” said Chacho.
The Backstage Capital ecosystem relies on critical and confidential information, and much of it lives inside inboxes. But sorting through an ever-growing inbox became a mental burden that both Christie and Chacho felt needed to be remedied.
The email tab was always open. It acted as a constant list of undone to-dos that “only continued to grow.”
“[My inbox] was a repository where the work lives,” said Christie.
How An Inbox Manager Changed Backstage Capital’s Workflow
Now that Inbox Manager Matthew and the Backstage Capital team “found a groove,” email communication is much more streamlined and the team is confident their email is taken care of.
Inbox Done has helped me get what I need that’s important versus me knowing every single detail.
The Backstage Capital team trusts that their email assistant will stay on top of what’s most important for them to know, and handle everything else. The transition to get to this point was a deliberate one.
“Initially it would feel funny,” said Christie of delegating her inbox over. “It wasn’t an issue of skepticism, it was getting used to having someone help you in that way. So much of email is translating thoughts in your head into words. Now, I’m able to respond more consistently in a more timely manner, and things are moving more efficiently through the inbox.”
It was important to the Backstage Capital team to know that their email assistant would understand their culture and communication style. Once that was established, they were able to lean into their email assistant for his expertise.
“Where I trusted [my inbox manager] the most was giving me ideas for how to organize and have control of things, so that way I don’t have to have my email open 24/7 while I’m working. I find myself closing my inbox more these days,” said Chacho.
Change Your Life With Your Own Inbox Manager
Christie explained that she thinks of her email assistant in the same way she views any outsourced task. A stronger relationship with the individual you delegate email to will result in more cohesive collaboration.
When it comes to your inbox, a long-term relationship is perhaps most critical. The established communication between Backstage Capital and their email assistat has resulted in more streamlined and intentional communication across the organization.
If you want to experience a similar impact on your organization’s communication, you can apply for your own inbox manager here.
