So do you really think exited founders of billion dollar companies who are now VCs virtue signaling about “hustle porn” got there on 40 hour weeks? If so, stop reading.
Not really a stretch to say this new branding on work-life balance is a way to signal “founder friendliness.” Which hey, good on you. Coining a term and getting it to spread quickly is hard.
But I really wonder, when the shit hits the fan, as it always does at some point, are those VCs going to say, “Hey, I think you should take the weekend off. You can worry about how to extend your 3 weeks of runway on Monday.” Probably not.
In management and leadership, I have always been a fan of having the tough conversation. The end result is always better. The only reason not to is your own fear.
Deluding founders into thinking they can do it in 40 hours is a) not true, b) unfair to the founder who will find themselves in a deal they didn’t bargain for, c) negative selection bias. It does a disservice to founders and the employees whose livelihood is their responsibility.
No one benefits from this lie. One of my portfolio companies has a company value called “Choose reality.” Everyone should have this value. Constant truth-seeking.
I’m still a bull on Silicon Valley (obviously), but there is one thing that is a bubble here. Not everyone should be a founder. Not everyone can be a founder. Not everyone will enjoy being a founder. I’m sorry.
The good news is there are plenty of alternatives to being a venture-backed founder that will give you similar joy and allow you to have work-life balance. Depending on what it is you want out of your life and career, I could list some of those off.
I think most investors believe all this but are afraid to say it, because it could hurt dealflow. My plan as an investor is always to be in a support role with my companies, so I care about selection for fit to working with me, which allows me to say this easily.
The founders I want to work with are pretty similar to the best executives and managers I’ve hired and worked with. We’ll both work hard. We’re both out to have career-defining success. We’ll both push each other to do our best work. We’ll never hide the truth from each other.
I honestly don’t know why you’d want anything different from that. Choose reality. Startups are hard.
