Has anyone successfuly used interns and/or virtual assistants?

September 24, 2025

by a searcher from Southern Methodist University in Denver, CO, USA

I am a self-funded searcher constantly feeling like there just aren't enough hours in the day. Since I can't stop time (yet), I'm wondering if I can add some low-cost folks to my team to help out. Particularly with administrative and top-of-funnel activities. Has anyone does this successfully? If so, how did you assess and find the right talent? What activities did you find best suited to pass off? How did you train and get your talent up to speed? What were the biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

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Reply by a searcher
in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

^redacted‌: So far, I have worked with 20+ searchers as a Virtual Assistant, helping them with tasks related to deal sourcing. Our most successful clients usually had a mix of interns plus us as their VA service provider. I can connect you with a few. For hiring, they hire interns locally, mostly college-going students, by posting in forums like searchfunder, LinkedIn, etc. They were lucky that I reached out to them for help hiring a VA through our agency, and they found it a fit. As far as the tasks are concerned, these are starting-level tasks that require a lot of time, such as researching industries, tools to utilize, process creation, pulling up the list from tools, finding contact information, managing the CRM and email scheduling, reaching out to brokers and other third parties who can make introductions, etc. I am unsure about intern training, but none of our clients has yet required or provided any training. Sometimes, they tell us what they need to get done, and we make them suggestions. Sometimes, they come with their preferred tools and have a process that we follow with instructions in the form of 1-2 Loom videos. I am not a fit to talk about the challenges, but being overwhelmed with the pipeline is for sure a challenge a few of my clients have faced. I hope the above helps. It would be great to have a one-one conversation so that I can introduce in detail on how we have helped searchers, and if you feel we can add value just like we have done for other searchers, we can start working together and fasten up your search process.

Reply by a searcher
from Colorado State University in Centennial, CO, USA

Following. Our bookkeeper is in Pakistan and he amazing. He is a certified accountant and an ERP expert who has helped greatly in our navigation of NetSuite etc. I am starting a VA next month who I plan to have help me source strategic opportunities... not sure how that will go yet as I don't have systems set up yet for her to follow.

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