Most people work harder than they want to and must make trade-offs. People with minimum wage jobs. Doctors, lawyers -- as others have mentioned. Pretty much everyone except the idle wealthy or unemployed.
Pretty much everyone alive thinks they work too hard and wish they could spend more time with friends and family or working on hobbies, travelling, etc. Human condition.
Having a startup is certainly hard work for less pay than you might be making elsewhere. But you get all of the benefits of being your own boss to one degree or another, plus creating something from scratch, and the possible upside.
I knew a guy who opened a lunch restaurant and catering business, and until it was making enough money, he'd work 6 days a week at the restaurant for lunch and catering gigs, and then also waited tables at a friend's restaurant and worked as a bartender at another friend's place. He basically got 4 hours of sleep a night, 7 days a week for three years. There was no brass ring or huge exit at the end of that path, he'd just decided at some point that he wanted to be his own boss.
And then there's all the people out there who work two or three part-time jobs just to make ends meet, who never see their kids, who may not even have health insurance - where's their work/life balance?
I personally feel privileged to have had the opportunity to start a company, make some money, have health insurance, and yes, worked my fair share of 60-hour weeks and all-nighters. I'm way better off than so many people in the US, forget about the rest of the world.
I think that sentiment is summed up nicely in this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5810546
"The dream we sell to our employees" -- a clear delineation of "the powerful and right founders vs. lowly employees who have to be manipulated." "Join our ranks" -- What? What ranks?
People who live charmed lives can't really understand the real world after a while. It's not their fault, and in a way, the world may be better because of it, but it's annoying when they unknowingly flaunt their "We're successful!" in our faces.
Startups are tough. As founders we are responsible for our teams, our customers, our vendors and partners, our advisory boards, our investors, family, friends, significant others, our health, and vision. It's not a compliant. I could go make a ton of money working a 9-5 without any of this type of stress and I choose not to because I love what I do and I love to build.
The reason I mentioned Startups Anonymous is because it's a resource for founders and team members (I don't like the word employees it creates that separation you noted above).
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Am I alone?
There's a lot of evidence showing that working more than 40 hours a week is counterproductive for employees, and results in negative productivity after a couple of weeks. I don't know why running a startup should be any different.
There are lots of occupations that can be demanding and stressful (doctor, lawyer, investment banker, etc.). Why is it a surprise to anyone that a career requiring a significant commitment of one's time leaves less time for other activities?
There are only 24 hours in a day and if you're ultimately not happy with how you're using them, the solution is to change how you're using them, not to spend time complaining or lamenting what you've chosen to give up.
Success means the freedom to use your time as you prefer, but there's no guarantee of success. The alternative is status-quo drudgery.
Of course, there are sacrifices to be made. But ultimately, it's about priorities. If your startup is SO important that you're losing your health or your marriage, then there's something wrong with how you're prioritizing. The startup can still get MOST of your time (like any career), but without ruining you.
Huh? What kind of friend tosses you aside because you decide to start a company? That makes absolutely no sense. I'm trying to imagine this conversation:
You: I'm starting my own company!
Friend: I think that's a crazy idea. You'll probably fail.
You: I'm confident I can do it.
Friend: I disagree, and we're not friends any more.
If anything, friends usually way underestimate the difficulty of running a business and just throw platitudes at you like, "Do it! Follow your dreams! With passion you can't fail!"
I like the conversation you created though. It actually would have been easier if your comments were true.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Variety is good for the brain.
Yes I'm sure you're addicted to the hedonic treadmill of your b2c webapp idea (ok, some folks are b2b, and some folks are doing things that aren't webapp). Recognize it, and manage it. Cognitive variety is healthy.
Ask yourself this: once you're professionally accomplished and have nothing to prove, what will you be focusing on professionally and how will you juggle various priorities.
Now ask yourself: why aren't you doing that already. Go do that. Unless its a bizarre fantasy that isn't possible in reality.
:-)
Choices involving time allocation don't have to be binary; each one carries an opportunity cost, the granularity of which we control. Although I can relate to many negatives from the article, it strikes me as equivalent to complaining about a cushy-but-boring day job while not willing to incur the risks of self-employment.
The meat of the issue is to decide what the right balance is, to be aware of the trade-offs, and to not vilify 'startups' and blame them for our failure to make choices consistent with our values.
"You know where you got that shirt!" - Charlie Murphy
Firstly you have to start spending quality time, and that means cutting off lots of the things you do at work that are only there to satisfy your need to feel like you are accomplishing things. You aren't. Quality time is true for family, and friend hours as well; just because you are there does not mean you are there. Many people who saw their parents regularly still feel they were very distant from them. If you are at home, be there mentally. If you are working, close that email window, and work.
Secondly make more time by waking up earlier in the day. If you wake up at 6, you can go to bed at 10:45, and that leaves you with 16 hours to do your magic.
Thirdly, stop being reactionary. If you have a plan other than the no-plan plan (translation "i don't know what to do so I am doing anything that comes to mind"), then you will know you can execute on it without having to spend 16 hours on it daily. While it is entirely understandable to work extremely long hours every now and then, it is probably more viable over the long term to have a plan and execute on it at your own pace. The things we will change the course of our startup (e.g. "we have to launch before July 7th") won't change them at all, besides if your startup is one event away from failure, even if it is Google launching a similar product, then it is safe to say it should not be called a business.
Kick back. Write a plan. Execute it.
I feel like the current balance has gone much too far into the startup direction and I've been waiting for some time for the pendulum to swing back.
Actually, a wise philosopher named Jennifer Lopez (yep, J-Lo) said that first. Her quotation (paraphrasing here) was something to the effect of: "You can have a great career, a great relationship with your partner, or be a great parent. Pick any two."
Meh. OK, yes, doing a startup can be a difficult process, and you probably have to make some serious sacrifices if you want to succeed. That's not a big revelation.
In my own case, I've basically forgone social interaction, dating, spending time with friends, etc., in order to try and get this thing off the ground. No, it's not pleasant, but I remind myself that this state of affairs is (if things go well) temporary... we'll get some traction at some point, and I may be able to back off a little. One day, we'll be a profitable, growing company, we'll hire a CEO, and I'll designate myself "chief coffee mug washer" and step aside to spend time doing fun stuff. Maybe some of my friends will still be alive then, and still know who I am. And maybe I'll still be young enough to have some kind of chance of finding a girlfriend. Or not. Who knows? But who ever said any of this was going to be easy?
Winning isn't normal, right?[1]
I guess you could say I'm an adherent of the mindset that "startups are the new graduate school". I love learning new stuff and forcing myself to learn what I need to know to do this startup is a great experience in many ways.
But like everything in life, there are always tradeoffs.
