Magic

Magic is a fully remote company that matches busy professionals, executives and small and medium-sized businesses with dedicated, full-time virtual executive assistants. Founded in 2015 and based on an origin story at NASA Ames Research Center, the firm draws its assistants from what it describes as the top 99.5% of the global talent pool, selecting them through a process of interview, testing, training and matching to each client's work style and needs. In addition to a dedicated assistant, clients are supported by a 24/7 on-demand team of real people who cover whenever the primary assistant is offline.

The company's work sits at the intersection of talent vetting and matching, remote workforce operations, assistant training systems and task management workflows. Magic states that its service is human-powered rather than AI-driven - real people backed by training and operational systems. The company reports having helped over 10,000 businesses and handled more than 2m tasks.

Magic was founded by Mike Chen and Aaron Kemmer, who previously built Made In Space, the company that put the first 3D printer on the International Space Station. The firm is backed by Y Combinator and Sequoia Capital, and has been covered by TechCrunch, Business Insider and The New York Times. Its operating model is fully remote and distributed, with a global talent pool; the company's stated focus is helping clients reclaim their time and concentrate on higher-value work.