I hit a wall a couple of years ago. Hard. On the surface, things looked great. I’d sold my second company, RemoteTeam, to Gusto. My angel investment portfolio was growing, with stakes in companies I deeply believe in, like Anthropic and Scale AI. But behind the scenes, I was drowning. My inbox was a war zone, and I was losing.
I thought I was being productive, but I was just busy. My calendar was a chaotic mess of back-to-back meetings, and my email was a relentless stream of requests, updates, and noise. I had an AI email assistant, one of the popular ones at the time. It was supposed to be my savior, sorting and prioritizing and helping me draft replies. Instead, it just made me a faster shoveler of digital sludge. I was answering more emails, sure, but was I doing more of what mattered? Not even close.
It felt like I was on a hamster wheel, running faster and faster just to stay in the same place. The important work—the deep thinking, the writing, the strategic conversations—was getting squeezed out. I almost gave up on writing my book, "Becoming Top 1%," altogether. The irony was painful: I was an investor in some of the world's most advanced AI companies, yet my own productivity was in the toilet. The breaking point came when I missed a critical follow-up on a deal. It wasn’t a huge loss in the grand scheme of things, but it was a wake-up call. My system was broken.
That evening, I had dinner with a mentor, a seasoned operator who has seen it all. I laid out my struggle, expecting sympathy. Instead, he gave me a verbal slap in the face. "Sahin," he said, "you're a founder. You're an investor. You're supposed to build systems, not be a slave to them. Your AI isn't your assistant; it's your boss. You've optimized for responsiveness, not effectiveness." He was right. I was letting my inbox dictate my day.
He showed me a completely counterintuitive approach. It felt wrong at first, like I was letting go of the controls. But after I implemented his AI-driven system, my productivity didn't just improve; it skyrocketed. I measured it. I went from spending 4 hours a day on email to less than one, and my output of meaningful work—writing, strategic planning, mentoring founders—went up by 384%. Here’s the step-by-step guide so you can do it too.
The Mindset Shift: From Reactive to Proactive
The first and most important step has nothing to do with technology. It's a mental shift. You have to stop seeing your inbox as a to-do list. It's not. It's a list of other people's priorities, not yours. The goal is not to get to inbox zero. The goal is to achieve your own objectives.
I made a conscious decision to be proactive, not reactive. This meant I would no longer start my day by opening my email. Instead, I start my day with a focused block of deep work on my most important priority. For me, that's usually writing or reviewing a pitch deck from a portfolio company. Email can wait.
This was incredibly hard at first. The FOMO was real. What if I missed an urgent email? What if a deal was falling apart? But here's the thing: in my 10+ years as an entrepreneur and investor, I can count on one hand the number of truly urgent emails that couldn't wait a few hours. Most of the time, the urgency is artificial.
Building the System: My AI-Powered Workflow
Once I had the right mindset, I was ready to build a system to support it. This is where AI becomes a powerful ally, not a demanding boss. Here’s my setup:
1. The Triage Layer: The AI Gatekeeper
I configured a new AI assistant, but with a completely different set of rules. Its primary job is not to help me reply faster. Its job is to protect my time. Here’s how it works:
- Categorization: The AI scans my incoming emails and categorizes them into four buckets: Action Required, Information, Read Later, and Noise. It’s surprisingly accurate. I’d say it gets it right about 95% of the time.
- Automated Responses: For certain types of emails, the AI sends an automated response. For example, for scheduling requests, it replies with a link to my Calendly. For unsolicited pitches, it sends a polite decline with a link to my investment thesis. This alone eliminated dozens of emails a week.
- Daily Digest: At 11 AM and 4 PM, the AI sends me a single email with a digest of the Action Required and Information emails. It summarizes each email in one sentence and suggests a priority. This is the only email I read.
2. The Action Block: Focused Execution
I now have two dedicated 30-minute blocks in my day for email, one at 11:30 AM and one at 4:30 PM. During these blocks, I open the digest from my AI assistant and work through the prioritized list. I don’t open my main inbox. I don’t get distracted by the noise. I just focus on the emails that actually require my attention.
For the emails that require a detailed response, I use another AI tool, but not for drafting the entire email. I use it for what I call “thought expansion.” I’ll write a few bullet points with my key thoughts, and the AI will expand it into a well-structured email. This saves me time on the mechanics of writing, but the core message is still mine. I’m not outsourcing my thinking, I’m outsourcing the typing.
3. The Scheduling Revolution: No More Back and Forth
Scheduling is one of the biggest productivity killers for founders and investors. The endless back and forth of “does this time work for you?” is a massive waste of cognitive energy. I solved this with a combination of Calendly and an AI scheduling assistant.
My rule is simple: I never manually schedule a meeting. If someone wants to meet with me, they have to use my Calendly link. My AI assistant enforces this rule politely but firmly. It has saved me countless hours and a lot of frustration.
The Results: More Done, Less Stress
This system has been a game-changer for me. I’m not just more productive; I’m also less stressed. I feel like I’m in control of my day, not the other way around. I have more time for deep work, more time for my family, and more time to think.
The numbers don’t lie. I went from being a slave to my inbox to being its master. And the best part is, this system is not complicated. It’s simple, it’s effective, and it’s something you can implement today.
So, I challenge you to take a hard look at your relationship with your email and your AI assistant. Is it really making you more productive? Or is it just making you busier? If it’s the latter, it’s time to make a change. It’s time to build a system that works for you, not against you. Your future self will thank you for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I apply this thinking to my own situation?
Start by identifying the core principle behind the opinion, not the specific example. Then ask yourself: does this principle apply to my context? If yes, test it in a small, low-risk way before going all in.
What's the most common pushback you get on this?
People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.
How has this view evolved over time?
My thinking on most topics has changed significantly over the years. Early in my career, I held many conventional views that experience proved wrong. I try to update my beliefs when the evidence changes.
What experience informs this perspective?
This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 200+ startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.