A chat with Jonathan Swanson, cofounder of Thumbtack, Athena, and Powerset. We cover a ton of ground - starting with the Sunday idea club that led to Thumbtack, how to scale a marketplace, and how to choose ideas you'd happily spent a decade on. Next, we jump into the science of delegation - the idea at the core of Athena. Jonathan talks through how to delegate to an EA, when to start with one, a system of delegation that creates asymmetric upside and what type of founders should consider it.

- Athena deal for Idea to Startup listeners https://rb.gy/b7x0z

03:09 Thumbtack origins
06:00 Identifying and evaluating problems
10:10 Unfair advantages
13:52 Craigslist scale tactic
20:10 Working with offshore talent for the first time
24:57 Managing people overseas
29:45 Athena
39:20 Levels of Delegation
52:37 The Billboard