My $ 2.25 billion outing told me that the obsession with Silicon Valley for 100 hours is in fact sabotage. It’s a marathon, not a sprint

Consequently, the CEOs arrive during meetings with urgent achievements on the late, the founders work extreme schedules, and the entrepreneurs sacrifice trips, holidays and personal relationships for the cause. A night before a major launch was a basic food in the technological industry, which makes a good story to tell later, but it is something different. The intensity is palpable; The AI ​​revolution creates both ecstasy and agony to an equal extent, the growing number of self -deprecated working awakenings of 100 hours or open letters requests for employees to work long -term.

But observing this first -hand intensity, I believe that there is another perspective which deserves to be considered to create sustainable businesses during periods of disruption.

Having built and sold a business for $ 2.25 billion, I learned that entrepreneurs who create a lasting value – and the outings that have been exhausted in a hundred weeks. They are the ones who understand that “the success of the next day takes seven years to build” and that working a week of 100 hours over an extended period is not durable.

Success is a game to worsen

Building a business is not a sprint – it is a sprint marathon. In many team sports, such as hockey, metrics “repeating sprints” is a better performance predictor than a dashboard in a straight line. Business is in the same way – you should know when to push, but you must also learn to recover quickly, and above all, how to continue, again and again. The real value does not come from the work constantly for a quarter. It comes from the composition: aggravating talents, expertise by aggravating in your industry, composing the recognition of the brand and the confidence of customers and the product capacities of the composition.

This composition only occurs when you are in the game long enough to see it. And you can only stay in the game if you operate at a lasting rate.

I learned my limits to the hard

Part of what makes an entrepreneur or a mature framework is where your limits are, both for long -term sustainability and short -term gusts – and the mixture of these strategically working methods. There are moments to sprint and time to punctuate you. Wisdom is to know which one is.

When I started my first company at 18, I was holding a full -time job simultaneously and continued my university diploma. This pace would not be durable for me now, in the forties with children. But here is what the 100 -hour evangelists are missing: I compensate more than any slight difference in hours with decades of practical experience, connections and recognition of patterns.

The 100 -hour work week is a blatant myth

Let’s be honest: many 100 -hour work weeks of work weeks are exaggeration or unsustainable anomalies. Although there may be unique individuals who can really maintain this pace, personal experience and medical research constantly show that people deprived of sleep are less productive.

More importantly, the development of businesses and products is a game with high issues. We are paid to make crucial decisions in uncertainty, often without complete information, then live with the consequences. The quality of these decisions deteriorates quickly with exhaustion. Do you want your surgeon to work on time 95 of his work week?

When “hard work” becomes a red flag

Here is a tell: when the founders claim that they are tired of working too much, something is not fundamentally going. When the founders really work long hours in a sustainable way, it is generally a work of love – they are energized by the work, not exhausted by him.

Panic AI today produces a different dynamic. The founders describe to operate from deep paranoia, dealing every fifteen minutes as having a price, believing that everything is urgent and critical. It is not passion; It’s panic. And panic rarely produces good long -term decisions.

It is a mental game, and if you are in poor mental mode, you will not maintain long enough to see the advantages of the composition. You will run out before your business model proves, before your team gelled, before your product finds the market.

Companies lie on the balance between professional and private life (and it hurts everyone)

I hope that HR policies, both in Europe and the United States, authorized businesses and individuals to be more transparent on work expectations. It is perfectly very good that some founders and companies grow hard – innovation often requires intensity. The problem arises when there is a disconnection in expectations.

Some startups need people to be ready to work on starting hours. Some people thrive in this environment. The problem is when companies claim to offer a balance between professional and private life while secretly waiting for 80 hours, or when candidates overestimate their work ethics during interviews. This disconnection hurts everyone.

AI changes everything except human biology

Yes, AI represents an important technological change. Yes, companies must adapt. The urgency is real and well documented. However, the laws of human physiology and psychology remain unchanged. Sustainable success always comes from the creation of solid teams, making good decisions and staying in the game long enough for your advantages to worsen.

My own experience validated this: the company I built for an exit of $ 2.25 billion was not the result of grinding 100 hours. There was a lot of version to do. However, more than that, it was the result of a good teamwork and a coherent strategic decision -making over the years, the construction of systems that could evolve and maintain the mental clarity necessary to navigate the dynamics of the complex market. The founders who burned early have never been able to see their composition effects.

The irony is that by rushing so as not to be left by AI, many adopt work models which practically guarantee that their companies will not be long enough to benefit from the AI ​​revolution emerges.

Build in the long term. Know your limits and be ready for the fact that there are people who cannot match them. Create a lasting excellence through the team. The composition will take care of the rest.

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