Many think that the founder’s secret weapon is a co-founder. Not all the time.This role doesn’t make headlines. It doesn’t raise funding. It doesn’t even have a standard job description. But it quietly runs the company.Clara Ma went from being Chief of Staff at Hugging Face to founding Ask a Chief of Staff, a fast-growing community that’s reshaping how founders build, scale, and survive.

Discover

🟢 The most misunderstood yet most powerful roles in business

🟢 What really breaks startups

🟢 How founders unknowingly become bottlenecks

🟢 Why delegation is a necessary leadership skill

This is a blueprint for founders who are smart enough to know they can’t do it all — and ambitious enough to build the system that can.

Connect with Clara

https://www.linkedin.com/in/clarama/

https://askachiefofstaff.com/

The Searchlight is a weekly briefing on leadership, venture, and building in the age of AI. Every Friday.

Timestamps

00:00 - Intro

01:01 - The Chief of Staff Journey

04:58 - Navigating Remote Work Challenges

06:56 - Work Environment Preferences

09:33 - Delegation and Growth

11:25 - Finding the Right Executive Assistant

15:00 - Energy Management and Decision Making

21:00 - The Art of Matchmaking for CEOs

22:02 - Understanding the Chief of Staff Role

24:38 - Building a Professional Network

33:03 - The Future of Chief of Staff in the Age of AI

35:06 - Debunking Startup Myths

39:47 - Connect with Clara

Behind Every Great Founder Is This Role (And It’s Not a Co-Founder) - Clara Ma | 08