Entrepreneurs & Work-Life Balance
Olivier Sartor April 17th, 2008
Entrepreneurs are a potent element that drives economies but should it be success at all costs? According to a global study on entrepreneurship from Babson College,almost 15% of the US population is working for startup companies that are less than 3.5 years old. About half of these companies will fail within five years. To successfully get these companies off the ground, founders face tremendous challenges; attracting customers, raising capital, hiring employees and fending off the competition — while theoretically trying to maintain a work-life balance for themselves and their teams.
Recently, Jason Calcanis, serial entrepreneur and founder of the new search engine Mahalo, wrote about his 17 best tips for entrepreneurs starting up their own company. Number 11 on his list ignited a firestorm of protest,“Fire people who are not workaholics. don’t love their work… come on folks, this is startup life, it’s not a game. don’t work at a startup if you’re not into it–go work at the post office or starbucks if you’re not into it you want balance in your life. For realz.” Jason went on to amend his original post, softening his original statement but his message is still the same, starting up a company comes with many sacrifices. David from 37 Signals countered with it is better to fire the workaholics for a number of reasons, including they tend to burn out. I agree with Jason — working a startup requires a serious commitment that occasionally may require sacrifices, including money, time and security. Having worked for startups, David is also correct because it always better to work smarter rather than harder. Is this your definition of an “ideal worker”?
