Startup work-life balance • Hacker News Board

Re: Startup work-life balance

#21

Post by hippo33 » Tue, Oct 09, 2012, 5:10 PM UTC

ojbyrne wrote: post #12

In my opinion startups are about speed. That doesn't mean you have to work 14 hour days 7 days a week. It does mean that if some obstacle clears at 5:05 pm on a Friday, then you do the work to get to the next obstacle, even if it means you miss dinner with the family. But if you're ahead of the game on a Monday morning at 9am, then sleep in, or go to a movie, or whatever. Because the best way to go fast is to be enth…

This may be true of YOUR startup. There are plenty of startups out there who have different thoughts about speed. And, so long as expectations are properly set with everyone on the team: co-founders, investors, et al, then whatever you need to do is the right thing regardless of what other startup founders around you are doing.

Re: Startup work-life balance

#22

Post by trhtrsh » Tue, Oct 09, 2012, 5:11 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #10

I used to program all the time in high school. I thought I was happy. Then I went to college, met all sorts of people, had lots of experiences, and realized how narrow my life, and concept of happiness was. So when I hear people talk about how much they love their work, that's their own balance... I can't help but wonder if they just haven't learned how great the other parts of life are. And how much a wider range of…

I used to go out all the time in college. I got puked on by all sorts of people, had lots of frustrating experiences, adn realized how peer-driven my life, and concept of happiness was.

So when I hear people talk about how much they love their friends, that's their own balance... I can't help but wonder if they just haven't learned how to take care of themselves without external validation. And how working to accomplish something can lead to more meaningful relationships as well.

Re: Startup work-life balance

#23

Post by guylhem » Tue, Oct 09, 2012, 5:12 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #10

I used to program all the time in high school. I thought I was happy. Then I went to college, met all sorts of people, had lots of experiences, and realized how narrow my life, and concept of happiness was. So when I hear people talk about how much they love their work, that's their own balance... I can't help but wonder if they just haven't learned how great the other parts of life are. And how much a wider range of…

What if they are happy at a local optimum, and what if we human could only feel happiness on a scale between the best we've been and the worst we've been?

Sure then they may not be the happy at a maximum, but since they haven't found such a maximum yet their hapiness on a relative scale is 100%.

In other words, ignorance is bliss, and if you don't have "other experiences", it doesn't matter, you could still be just as happy - or even more!!

Considering I felt like the author, happier in the most work intensive years, and less happy afterwards, I have come to this theory of my own. It's not substantiated by anything but the famous "ignorance is bliss".

It has had one effect - stopped me from seeking "experiences" - because I want to maximize my relative happiness level. I noticed that when I did stopped that (buddihsm like), happiness happened (but didn't last - maybe there are disminishing marginal returns of staying at one level of "experience" - and we should gain experience, but little by little, to keep happiness maxed out.

Re: Startup work-life balance

#24

Post by nkohari » Tue, Oct 09, 2012, 5:14 PM UTC

ojbyrne wrote: post #12

In my opinion startups are about speed. That doesn't mean you have to work 14 hour days 7 days a week. It does mean that if some obstacle clears at 5:05 pm on a Friday, then you do the work to get to the next obstacle, even if it means you miss dinner with the family. But if you're ahead of the game on a Monday morning at 9am, then sleep in, or go to a movie, or whatever. Because the best way to go fast is to be enth…

Unless there's an external factor that requires that you complete a task by a certain day, it's much healthier to think of a startup as a marathon than series of sprints.

Re: Startup work-life balance

#25

Post by hippo33 » Tue, Oct 09, 2012, 5:14 PM UTC

mratzloff wrote: post #7

People don't exist in a vacuum, though. Unlike when he was a teenager, his workaholic attitude affects others in a workplace environment. It affects the company culture and puts pressure on people to work more to keep up. It makes otherwise good workers feel guilty that they don't work more.

That is a very fair point. Still learning how to write better. (since I didn't spend a lot of time writing in HS :P)

I think that it's important to set expectations with your team: co-founders, investors, etc. If everyone on the team needs to play golf every afternoon at 3pm to stay balanced, then that's right for them. There isn't anything wrong with this as long as everyone is onboard with this plan.

As for joining a startup, finding the right company culture is super important, and there are definitely startups that don't have pressure-cooker environments with long hours and work weeks. It's just a matter of taking the time to find the right fit.

Re: Startup work-life balance

#26

Post by trhtrsh » Tue, Oct 09, 2012, 5:14 PM UTC

mratzloff wrote: post #7

People don't exist in a vacuum, though. Unlike when he was a teenager, his workaholic attitude affects others in a workplace environment. It affects the company culture and puts pressure on people to work more to keep up. It makes otherwise good workers feel guilty that they don't work more.

They can look at his equity stake and take comfort.

Re: Startup work-life balance

#27

Post by mberning » Tue, Oct 09, 2012, 5:16 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #10

I used to program all the time in high school. I thought I was happy. Then I went to college, met all sorts of people, had lots of experiences, and realized how narrow my life, and concept of happiness was. So when I hear people talk about how much they love their work, that's their own balance... I can't help but wonder if they just haven't learned how great the other parts of life are. And how much a wider range of…

Absoutely. I was similar to the author all the through college. Then I got a job, which was a brutal entry level programmer job. It killed what little social life I had at that point. But the upside was that I was pretty good at it and started making some decent money. Over time I was able to use my professional capital to switch to a company with much healthier expectations. I was able to go out and explore the world after being caught up in the daily grind for years. I was able to associate with a much wider set of people. I got 'real' hobbies to replace my 'geek' hobbies. I got a girlfriend. One day I realized that I cared more about being a good person, a good partner, a good lover, a good friend, etc. than being a good programmer/scientist/etc. I realized that the chance of any 1 person making a breakthrough contribution to a company, science, or the arts is vanishingly small. The chance to be a good person and positively impact the people in your life and community is 100%.

I'm very thankful that my experiences have allowed me to put my professional life in perspective.

Re: Startup work-life balance

#28

Post by freshhawk » Tue, Oct 09, 2012, 5:16 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #10

I used to program all the time in high school. I thought I was happy. Then I went to college, met all sorts of people, had lots of experiences, and realized how narrow my life, and concept of happiness was. So when I hear people talk about how much they love their work, that's their own balance... I can't help but wonder if they just haven't learned how great the other parts of life are. And how much a wider range of…

Exactly, saying that doing one thing or only similar things all the time is "my balance" is a strange, almost Orwellian, redefinition of the word balance.

Re: Startup work-life balance

#29

Post by guylhem » Tue, Oct 09, 2012, 5:16 PM UTC

ogama wrote: post #11

Her high school life sounds sad. If she really had a fulfilling social life in high school she wouldn't feel the need to tell us all how great it was that she didn't go to parties. It reminds me of people who are constantly broadcasting to everyone how happy they are. Chances are, they're not.

You're projecting your own judgement there!! What if she was indeed very happy? How can you know about her "internal state"? There are no ways to read thoughts yet, so believing what one is saying abouts one own feellings is usually best.

Re: Startup work-life balance

#30

Post by trhtrsh » Tue, Oct 09, 2012, 5:19 PM UTC

ogama wrote: post #11

Her high school life sounds sad. If she really had a fulfilling social life in high school she wouldn't feel the need to tell us all how great it was that she didn't go to parties. It reminds me of people who are constantly broadcasting to everyone how happy they are. Chances are, they're not.

Poe'd?

If you had a fulfilling life, you wouldn't feel the need to accuse other people of being secretly unhappy.