A second brain, not an assistant

Hi {{first_name|there}},

Happy Wednesday. This week is about what's left when the translating goes away. Beehiiv CEO, Tyler Denk, and Chief of Staff, Brian Schneider, join the Chief of Staff Podcast to share how beehiiv runs the Chief of Staff seat inside a company that publishes everything (literally).

Chief of Staff Connect also returns to New York in October. And the events filling up between now and then. If you’re a senior Chief of Staff, this is the room for you.

Tyler Denk has hired three Chiefs of Staff and has never once treated one as an assistant. His current one, Brian Schneider, is in the room with him for this episode, which almost never happens on this show, and together they lay out what the job becomes when the CEO refuses to keep anything to himself.

Most Chiefs of Staff build their value on interpretation. You sit in the rooms your principal sits in, you hear what they actually meant, and you carry that meaning out to the people who need it. At beehiiv that layer doesn't exist. Tyler shares the board deck with the entire company every quarter, revenue, costs, and the ten things keeping him up at night, and anyone can pull up the KPIs and see exactly where the business is pacing.

That sounds like it shrinks the role. It does the opposite. Strip out the translating and what's left is the harder work of getting to the root of a problem and fixing it. The bar Tyler holds Brian to is that he can sub into any meeting Tyler is running and make the call Tyler would make. Right now that means Brian is deployed onto the ad network team for a six to eight week turnaround, operating as if he runs it, then returning to the seat when the next problem surfaces.

So here's the uncomfortable version of the question. If your principal published everything tomorrow, the numbers, the concerns, all ten things keeping him up at night, what would be left of your job?

👉 Listen to the episode

October 22 and 23, Connect is back in Manhattan for two days with senior Chiefs of Staff. This year's theme is From Force Multiplier to Builder: the shift from amplifying leaders behind the scenes to owning the systems, programs, and operating models that move the business.

Sessions cover architecting operating systems that scale, shipping projects that move metrics, and stepping into the Chief AI Architect seat. If you're running strategic initiatives or leading a transformation, this is the room.

October 22-23 in New York. Bundle your ticket with PRO+ membership and save up to 24%.

That's it for this week. If you've been trading on being the person who knows what the boss meant, give this episode an honest hour.

Scott