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Exactly. Elon Musk has been working 80 hour work weeks for the past 20 years now. I'm not saying that's anywhere near a balanced lifestyle. But without those sa

by boona 9y ago

Exactly. Elon Musk has been working 80 hour work weeks for the past 20 years now. I'm not saying that's anywhere near a balanced lifestyle. But without those sacrifices, it's much harder to produce innovative world changing products or services. The United States creates and draws those character types to it, and for many Europeans countries, they don't.

danielam 9y ago
There's a body of research that corroborates the opposite claim, i.e., that past a certain point, working more hours does not correlate with -- or correlates negatively with -- effectiveness. So if Europe is less "innovative", the reasons are not likely related to a simplistic measure like hours worked.
- EduardoBautista 9y ago
  And I am sure there are exceptions to that claim, e.g. Elon Musk. Not all humans are wired the same way. People that can work 80 hour weeks effectively are rare, which is why those types of CEOs have million dollar salaries.
- smsm42 9y ago
  On overall, probably not. There's a difference though between average load and peak load. Virtually nobody could sustain a 80 hour work weak for an extended time. A lot of people could do it for a short time, provided the possibility of a large reward.
aries1980 9y ago
I'm pretty sure the accumulation of capital that draws people to SV and New York. There were numerous studies, e.g. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228200217_The_Geography_of_Venture_Capital_Contracts https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228200217_The_Geogr... . That's why it is really hard to set foot 50 miles further than the centre of VCs, not because it is harder to attract talent.) “In Connecticut and Massachusetts the proportion of investments located within 50 miles of the investor’s home or office is 37% (Freear et al, 1992). In New England the equivalent proportion is 58% (Wetzel, 1981) while in Ottawa the proportion is 85% (this high proportion reflecting its proximity to different cultural and political milieus to the north and south and distance from other major urban areas in English-speaking Canada). In the UK, Mason and Harrison (1994) found that two-thirds of investments by UK business angels were made within 100 miles of home.” http://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/15803/ http://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/15803/ This slowly changes, but still, matters.

by boona 9y ago

danielam 9y ago

There's a body of research that corroborates the opposite claim, i.e., that past a certain point, working more hours does not correlate with -- or correlates negatively with -- effectiveness. So if Europe is less "innovative", the reasons are not likely related to a simplistic measure like hours worked.

EduardoBautista 9y ago
And I am sure there are exceptions to that claim, e.g. Elon Musk. Not all humans are wired the same way. People that can work 80 hour weeks effectively are rare, which is why those types of CEOs have million dollar salaries.
smsm42 9y ago
On overall, probably not. There's a difference though between average load and peak load. Virtually nobody could sustain a 80 hour work weak for an extended time. A lot of people could do it for a short time, provided the possibility of a large reward.

aries1980 9y ago

I'm pretty sure the accumulation of capital that draws people to SV and New York. There were numerous studies, e.g. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228200217_The_Geography_of_Venture_Capital_Contracts https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228200217_The_Geogr... . That's why it is really hard to set foot 50 miles further than the centre of VCs, not because it is harder to attract talent.) “In Connecticut and Massachusetts the proportion of investments located within 50 miles of the investor’s home or office is 37% (Freear et al, 1992). In New England the equivalent proportion is 58% (Wetzel, 1981) while in Ottawa the proportion is 85% (this high proportion reflecting its proximity to different cultural and political milieus to the north and south and distance from other major urban areas in English-speaking Canada). In the UK, Mason and Harrison (1994) found that two-thirds of investments by UK business angels were made within 100 miles of home.” http://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/15803/ http://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/15803/ This slowly changes, but still, matters.