The Brief
A summary tells you what's there. A Brief tells you what to do, and why. We read everything overnight so you read one page.
Today
Calendar on the left with the chief-of-staff context underneath each event. Statements on the right — what to do, in priority order. The block you're inside right now lights up.
May 12
Three things land today: Sarah needs a yes/no on the LOI, Hunter's expecting Estabrook before 4, and Jordan's renewal closes Friday.
Estabrook standup
Hunter Haines · Maya Lin
Hunter wants the revised deck before this — last touched 9 days ago.
10:00 – 11:30 free
Bury the Estabrook deck before Hunter's 4 PM.
Lunch w/ Lauren
Lauren Nguyen
She mentioned Whistle's hiring freeze in Slack last week — likely to come up.
Board prep w/ Sarah
Sarah Liu
She's nudged you on the LOI three times in eight days — expect it to come up.
Tomorrow
Estabrook standup
Reply to Sarah on the LOI today.
She's nudged three times in eight days and brings it to the 4 PM. A yes/no clears the meeting.
3 emails · 1 text · last touched 8d ago
Turn the Estabrook deck before 4.
Hunter's expecting a revision; the file's been cold 9 days. The 10:00–11:30 block is yours.
2 emails · 1 doc · 1 calendar event
Kate's DEXA results came in clean.
PDF attached. She asked if you want last year's pulled up for comparison.
1 email · 1 attachment
Lock in Jordan's renewal by Friday.
Quote up 40% YoY. The new fuel surcharge tier hits Saturday — Friday is the line.
2 emails · 1 doc · expires Fri
A Brief is the page you wish a chief of staff would write you.
So we wrote it.
Tomorrow
Hunter shoots you a text this afternoon: "You're on my list tomorrow to sync up." No invite, no .ics. Most apps drop it on the floor. LSTN puts it where you'll actually see it.
May 13
Tomorrow's lighter — but Hunter's expecting time, and Jordan's renewal lands by Friday.
Estabrook standup
Hunter Haines · Maya Lin
Sync with Hunter
Hunter Haines
From his text yesterday — he didn't propose a time. Reply to lock it in.
11:00 – 1:00 free
If Hunter says morning, this is the slot. Otherwise: Jordan turn.
Investor call — Sequoia follow-up
Mike Chen · Priya Sundaram
Mike wants the May metrics. Send by 10 AM so he has time to skim.
Reply to Hunter and lock a time.
His text says "tomorrow" but he didn't propose a slot. Pick something — your 11:00–1:00 is open.
1 text · 1 inferred event
Send Mike the May metrics before 10 AM.
He's prepping for the 2 PM follow-up. The dashboard is current; one screenshot does it.
2 emails · 1 calendar event
Jordan's renewal closes Friday.
Tomorrow's the last realistic day to negotiate. The 11:00–1:00 free block is the move if Hunter is brief.
2 emails · expires Fri
Week
The Week view doesn't list every event. It tells you the shape of the week — where the load is, where the slack is, what's overdue.
May 12 – 18
Front-loaded week. Tue–Wed are dense; Thu–Fri thin out. Two real deadlines: Jordan's renewal Fri, Sequoia decision early next week.
Wrap (yesterday)
5 events · 2 meetings ran long
Today — board prep + Estabrook
4 events · packed afternoon
Sequoia follow-up + Hunter sync
3 events
Open
1 event · 5 hr free
Jordan renewal close + team off-site
2 events · half day
Compression
Tuesday and Wednesday are doing 70% of the week's work. Thursday is the only real recovery day before Jordan's Friday close.
9 events Tue–Wed · 1 event Thu
Cold
Three threads have been quiet 7+ days: MaxLogix renewal, Estabrook revisions, Krishna's Q3 plan. Two of them want answers this week.
3 cold threads · 2 with deadlines
New voice
Priya Sundaram (Sequoia) showed up this week for the first time. Three messages in four days — she's accelerating.
3 emails · introduced Mon
Power dynamic
You're CC'd on three Whistle threads now, not To'd. Lauren may be quietly stepping back from the account.
3 emails · 0 direct asks
Wrap
The end-of-day version. Skim it on the train home — what closed, what's still open, what tomorrow inherits.
May 12 — wrap
A good day. Three of four things landed. The one that didn't (Jordan) is tomorrow's first move.
Estabrook standup ✓
Hunter saw the revised deck before the meeting
Lunch w/ Lauren ✓
She didn't bring up Whistle hiring
Board prep w/ Sarah ✓
LOI cleared — she's drafting the redline
LOI cleared.
Sarah's drafting the redline tonight; she'll send tomorrow morning. Eight-day silence is broken.
2 emails · 1 meeting
Jordan still owes you a quote breakdown.
You asked at 11; he saw it at 1; nothing back. Tomorrow's first move.
1 email · seen 6h ago
Kate replied — she'd love the comparison.
Pull last year's DEXA when you have ten minutes.
1 email
One Brief. Your whole life. Nobody watching.
Join Beta