I ran Manus on work I’d normally delegate — here’s what happened

Solo founders eventually hit a wall. VAs can help, but onboarding and managing them can be a hassle. Most AI agents simply won’t cut it.

Manus, on the other hand… I tested it. And I was impressed.

Here’s what I found.

Why this felt different

You’ve probably seen AI tools that look great in demos — then crumble when you try them. Manus wasn’t like that.

Here’s what it did in the background:

• Started up a virtual computer
• Opened a real browser
• Followed step-by-step instructions
• Wrote and ran its own code when needed
• Saved everything in the right folders
• Kept track of what it was doing
• And most importantly — gave a finished result, not just a rough draft

It wasn’t flashy. But it worked. And as a founder, that’s what matters to me.

Let’s get into the actual tests we ran.

Test #1: Resume analysis

We gave it a ZIP file of 20+ resumes and asked it to rank candidates for a backend engineering role focused on Python and PostgreSQL.

Manus:

• Unzipped the folder
• Parsed each resume
• Pulled out relevant details: skills, education, years of experience
• Scored each one based on fit
• Generated a spreadsheet with rankings
• Wrote the Python scripts needed — then ran them inside its own environment

No questions. No back-and-forth. It just did the job.

Test #2: Personal assistant-level planning

Okay — this one isn’t founder-focused. But it did show what Manus is capable of.

We asked it to plan a 7-day Japan trip for two people.

The prompt included:

• Interests: cultural sites, walkable cities, historic landmarks
• A budget and travel preferences
• Output: a downloadable, offline-friendly HTML itinerary

What Manus did:

• Searched travel blogs, Reddit threads, booking sites
• Gathered transportation options, destination info, and cultural tips
• Built a complete day-by-day plan
• Generated a multi-tab HTML travel guide with embedded maps

The kind of assistant-style task that usually takes a weekend? Done in minutes.

Not mission-critical for solo founders, of course — but a glimpse of what’s possible.

Bonus: Competitor research

We didn’t run this one live, but it’s exactly the kind of task Manus is built for — and one solo founders constantly face.

Say you’re prepping a landing page or refining messaging. You want to scan 10 competitors to understand:

• Pricing
• Feature sets
• Positioning and target audience

With Manus, you’d write a prompt asking it to:

• Visit each site
• Extract that info
• Organize it into a structured spreadsheet

A few hours of tedious tab-hopping, handled in minutes. Manus a great fit for any task where structure beats creativity.

Why it matters for small teams

Solo founders often avoid hiring because hiring means managing — and managing breaks flow.

What tools like Manus are starting to offer is something different: Task-level execution without management overhead.

It doesn’t replace every VA. But it does replace the kind of predictable, repeatable work that most early-stage founders try to offload:

• Research
• Sorting and organizing files
• Formatting data
• Document generation
• Light technical work (like parsing PDFs or generating spreadsheets)

It’s not perfect. But it’s productive. And that’s what matters when you’re moving quickly.

What you can do with it right now

You don’t need to rebuild your stack or rethink your workflow. Just shift your approach.

Here’s how to plug Manus into your flow:

• Start small — Pick one task you already delegate (resume screening, formatting docs, summarizing research)
• Write a prompt like a task brief — Be clear about the format, rules, and desired outcome
• Check the result — Don’t assume it’s right. Review it like you would any team member’s work
• Build a prompt library — Once a prompt gives you what you need, turn it into a reusable template

Think of it less like “AI” and more like hiring a junior teammate — one who works in seconds and never needs a check-in.

When we ran these tests, Manus still had a million-person waitlist. That’s gone. So, if you’re still spending hours on tasks like the ones I’ve mentioned… Give it a try!