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Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining

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Re: Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining

#11

Post by dextorious »

kingofspain wrote: post #8

I'm so glad I was pushing 30 before I really became aware of this startup scene. The general impression that comes off, to me at least, is work hard, stop moaning, accept pennies and one day you'll be rich - assuming that unlikely outcome happens and we don't use of the thousand ways possible to screw you out of any riches. To me at least, and as an outsider, I'd say things like this may hold up for founders, but as…

"""I'm so glad I was pushing 30 before I really became aware of this startup scene. The general impression that comes off, to me at least, is work hard, stop moaning, accept pennies and one day you'll be rich - assuming that unlikely outcome happens and we don't use of the thousand ways possible to screw you out of any riches."""

Startups are tax for people who are good at math, but don't bother checking their odds.

Re: Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining

#13

Post by jowiar »

The overworking has nothing to do with changing the world - rather, it runs contrary to it. If perpetual overworking is necessary for a startup, it's not pushing anything revolutionary enough to be considered changing the world, as the overworking serves entirely to get a product to market faster than someone else, given that someone else can produce an equivalent or superior product.

Re: Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining

#14

Post by dextorious »

xarien wrote: post #4

And that's why my hiring criteria has always hinged on the level of compulsion said candidate exhibits. Sleep needs to be a secondary concern when stacked against a deadline. Although, I will be the first to admit that every now and then I fully rest up and swear I'm going to get more sleep because I can actually see the productivity increase. That thought is often a quickly fleeting thought however....

"""Sleep needs to be a secondary concern when stacked against a deadline."""

Actually there is only one deadline that matters, and it's called death.

If your company is "stacked against deadlines" in order to compete, you're doing it wrong. "Fast time to market" is a rat race for marginal benefits, not a business strategy.

Google didn't get #1 because it was first on the market. Neither did Facebook, Microsoft et al.

Re: Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining

#15

Post by kayoone »

Some time ago go i read an article about an ex CEO of some biotech firm who wanted to complete a very hard multiple days bike race and trained for over a year. He knew he couldnt keep up with the pros who didnt sleep at all and were nearly killing themselves, instead he tried to get good sleep everyday while the pros raced on. In the morning he ended up overtaking many of the guys that didnt sleep at all and genereally felt very fit throughout the whole race. Of course he didnt win, but as far as i remember had a very respectable finish. It was an excerpt from a book but i cant remember the name nor any details about the race :/

Re: Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining

#16

Post by moocow01 »

Meh - honestly working insane hours becomes unproductive and is foolishly glorified by many around SV. Getting 2 hours of sleep on a regular basis is just going to make you non-functional after a while and will lead to shooting yourself in the foot. This culture seems to be manufactured by VC-backed startups with limited runways and some of the more tyranical managers who hear about the greats like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates that drove people incredibly hard and achieved enormous success. I think the better path is to work toward a certain direction that you enjoy, focus on enjoying your work and not trying to hit some "level", and treat yourself well so you can produce well. Your enjoyment and health should be your top priority and in return I'd bet your efforts will be much more effective.

Re: Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining

#17

Post by samirageb »

As someone that's bootstrapped for 3 years, I can say that working hard is imperative, but can also be incredibly detrimental to your business. I believe in the spirit of the blog post, as long as you don't get caught up in absolutes, because obviously burnout is counter-productive.

Most startups I see are weekend projects, or 3-6 month endeavors that really don't qualify as being a part of history and are dominated by goal of making money. However, considering the author it's safe to say that Arrington is assuming that you're actually trying to MAKE A DIFFERENCE, instead of building the next coupon loyalty program with game theory and achievements. It's probably also safe to say that someone with his universally accepted work ethic is probably seeing alot more 'whining' in his current role than previously exposed to.

Re: Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining

#18

Post by sliverstorm »

wanorris wrote: post #7
keiferski wrote: post #2

Work hard. Cry less. And realize you’re part of history No, sorry, but you probably aren't. Zynga isn't changing the world and neither are 99.9% of the startups coming out of SV. The over-working culture is exactly that - a culture. It has nothing to do with actual reality, and everything to do with perceived reality. Great, long-term companies aren't built by entrepreneurs who sleep 2 hours a night. P.S.: not gettin…

Well, sort of. Working all the time isn't sustainable. But the point of starting a startup isn't to do things that are long-term sustainable, it's to build as much as you can in a short period of time to outrace competitors and adapt quickly to whatever comes up. And I say that as someone who needs work-life balance -- that's why I don't have a startup. I want to spend time with my wife and kids and hobbies and thing…

Sleeping 2 hours a night is a sprint. Unless you are a superhuman, you can't sleep 2 hours a night for more than a week and still be more productive than someone on a normal schedule.

The point being, you can sprint in a crunch. You can sprint to meet a deadline next week. But unless you expect your company to be bought a week after you found it, you should probably be pacing yourself at least a little. Go ahead and give up work/life balance- for a medium-term project you can risk burnout- and go ahead and work 16 hours a day. But get 8 hours of sleep.

Re: Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining

#20

Post by rimantas »

wanorris wrote: post #7
keiferski wrote: post #2

Work hard. Cry less. And realize you’re part of history No, sorry, but you probably aren't. Zynga isn't changing the world and neither are 99.9% of the startups coming out of SV. The over-working culture is exactly that - a culture. It has nothing to do with actual reality, and everything to do with perceived reality. Great, long-term companies aren't built by entrepreneurs who sleep 2 hours a night. P.S.: not gettin…

Well, sort of. Working all the time isn't sustainable. But the point of starting a startup isn't to do things that are long-term sustainable, it's to build as much as you can in a short period of time to outrace competitors and adapt quickly to whatever comes up. And I say that as someone who needs work-life balance -- that's why I don't have a startup. I want to spend time with my wife and kids and hobbies and thing…

  > outrace competitors and adapt quickly to whatever
  > comes up.
I am afraid it's not about outracing competitoros, but the fear of competitors. At the end you just get exhausted and fail without any competitors in sight.
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