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I don't know... I feel like the only hobby you should have with a start up going is exercise. I also understand needing other unstructured off time besides exer

I don't know... I feel like the only hobby you should have with a start up going is exercise. I also understand needing other unstructured off time besides exercise but really... a hobby? If you want to have a hobby you probably shouldn't be trying to start a business...

amasad 8y ago
Two birds, one stone: make your hobby something active... I do powerlifting. Adding pounds on the bar week/week is the only metric I'm confident will keep going up ;)
bretpiatt 8y ago
If business founders shouldn't have a hobby should they also not have a family or other activities that could (or will) require non-work time commitments?
freehunter 8y ago
In one year someone will post an article about how burnout destroyed their business, and I will look for your comment saying "I was totally committed to my business, didn't even have a hobby or anything for fun, and I ended up wandering downtown naked, unaware of where or who I was". All work and no play makes something something.
harlanji 8y ago
You’re downvoted and my managers always make me look like a slacker for holding this one singular hobby/2 routines. Each one, while they are chubby and often have poor posture, fooling themselves into thinking they’re on turbo—nope. I can do 12x6 forever but don’t F with my 3-4pm empty gym slot which effectively saves time. Superman. Even when the gym was in the same building. Hour lunch out of office is the other. A couple workspaces have given me hell for this, and I just quit at first sign now. Last workplace was 4 people total and of course my supervisor was the fat ass and others did marathons and crossfit—guess how that went. I do judge workplaces based on fitness level; mind-body.
- navbaker 8y ago
  Do you actually like working 12x6 or do you feel it’s the only way you’ll be successful?
  - wolco 8y ago
    12 to 6 sounds great. Would prefer 9 till 3.
    - navbaker 8y ago
      I took the parent comment to mean 12 hours, 6 days a week. Did he actually mean he works 12-6?
- joew42k 8y ago
  If you're working 12 hrs a day, 6 days a week, and your manager is calling you a slacker, then quit.
scrollaway 8y ago
I really question the intelligence of any founder who thinks the way you do. I give a lot of lee-way to people when it comes to learning lessons, but this idea that your mind should be on your business 24/7 and nothing else, and that that is somehow healthy... I mean, I don't even know how it's controversial for Josh to say people need to do stuff outside of work. I am a huge believer that we, as founders, should apply the same standards to ourselves as we do to employees. Enforce personal time and vacations, that sort of thing. If it's healthy for an employee, it's healthy for you, and your business doesn't need one of its founders to burn out. The artificial "must do everything now right now" rush comes from "Funding will run out!" and "We must be first to market!". Those things will happen either way if you lose one of your founders to burnout along the way. Or even if you don't lose them, your productivity will sink like a horse in wet toilet paper if you don't give yourself limits. Furthermore, "funding will run out if I don't rush" is usually a sign you've taken on funding too early. Give yourself enough time early on. I'm particularly sensible to all this because I've seen how the games industry has abused employees in the past (and this keeps happening, although less), the same way a lot of founders abuse themselves today. Ridiculous deadlines, trading employee health for "code crunch" as if there's just a lot of ones and zeroes to type until you're done. Don't pull regular all-nighters, don't order KFC every day because you "don't have time to cook", don't stop reading/gaming/watching TV (that business meeting email can wait until tomorrow). And for god sake, don't neglect your personal life to the point of losing your boyfriend/girlfriend/SO, there's nothing like losing your partner to precipitate burnout. I've even seen some founders rave about things like the Mythical Man-Month and then stay up 36 hours to "work more on their business", as if sleep wouldn't catch up on them anyway. Dumb, toxic culture.
- linkmotif 8y ago
  Hobbies take a lot of time. You need to sleep, eat, relax, exercise and spend time with family. There is no room in there for a hobby if you are starting a company. If you want to have hobbies it is more realistic to get a job.
  - scrollaway 8y ago
    Yes, creating a company from scratch is hard. It's a lot of work. Part of that work is taking care of yourself and your cofounders. If you want to create a successful company, there's no room not to do those things. At best you'll burn out. If somehow your company survives, you probably won't like the culture you created. To be clear: I'm not saying "don't work hard". I'm saying that if you think you can make it by cutting out all personal time, you don't have the stamina you think you do. Almost nobody does, you're not the exception, and even if you are, you're gambling your company with your own life which, in startup lingo, is what we call a "dumb move".

amasad 8y ago

Two birds, one stone: make your hobby something active... I do powerlifting. Adding pounds on the bar week/week is the only metric I'm confident will keep going up ;)

bretpiatt 8y ago

If business founders shouldn't have a hobby should they also not have a family or other activities that could (or will) require non-work time commitments?

freehunter 8y ago

In one year someone will post an article about how burnout destroyed their business, and I will look for your comment saying "I was totally committed to my business, didn't even have a hobby or anything for fun, and I ended up wandering downtown naked, unaware of where or who I was". All work and no play makes something something.

harlanji 8y ago

You’re downvoted and my managers always make me look like a slacker for holding this one singular hobby/2 routines. Each one, while they are chubby and often have poor posture, fooling themselves into thinking they’re on turbo—nope. I can do 12x6 forever but don’t F with my 3-4pm empty gym slot which effectively saves time. Superman. Even when the gym was in the same building. Hour lunch out of office is the other. A couple workspaces have given me hell for this, and I just quit at first sign now. Last workplace was 4 people total and of course my supervisor was the fat ass and others did marathons and crossfit—guess how that went. I do judge workplaces based on fitness level; mind-body.

navbaker 8y ago
Do you actually like working 12x6 or do you feel it’s the only way you’ll be successful?
- wolco 8y ago
  12 to 6 sounds great. Would prefer 9 till 3.
  - navbaker 8y ago
    I took the parent comment to mean 12 hours, 6 days a week. Did he actually mean he works 12-6?
joew42k 8y ago
If you're working 12 hrs a day, 6 days a week, and your manager is calling you a slacker, then quit.

scrollaway 8y ago

I really question the intelligence of any founder who thinks the way you do. I give a lot of lee-way to people when it comes to learning lessons, but this idea that your mind should be on your business 24/7 and nothing else, and that that is somehow healthy... I mean, I don't even know how it's controversial for Josh to say people need to do stuff outside of work. I am a huge believer that we, as founders, should apply the same standards to ourselves as we do to employees. Enforce personal time and vacations, that sort of thing. If it's healthy for an employee, it's healthy for you, and your business doesn't need one of its founders to burn out. The artificial "must do everything now right now" rush comes from "Funding will run out!" and "We must be first to market!". Those things will happen either way if you lose one of your founders to burnout along the way. Or even if you don't lose them, your productivity will sink like a horse in wet toilet paper if you don't give yourself limits. Furthermore, "funding will run out if I don't rush" is usually a sign you've taken on funding too early. Give yourself enough time early on. I'm particularly sensible to all this because I've seen how the games industry has abused employees in the past (and this keeps happening, although less), the same way a lot of founders abuse themselves today. Ridiculous deadlines, trading employee health for "code crunch" as if there's just a lot of ones and zeroes to type until you're done. Don't pull regular all-nighters, don't order KFC every day because you "don't have time to cook", don't stop reading/gaming/watching TV (that business meeting email can wait until tomorrow). And for god sake, don't neglect your personal life to the point of losing your boyfriend/girlfriend/SO, there's nothing like losing your partner to precipitate burnout. I've even seen some founders rave about things like the Mythical Man-Month and then stay up 36 hours to "work more on their business", as if sleep wouldn't catch up on them anyway. Dumb, toxic culture.

linkmotif 8y ago
Hobbies take a lot of time. You need to sleep, eat, relax, exercise and spend time with family. There is no room in there for a hobby if you are starting a company. If you want to have hobbies it is more realistic to get a job.
- scrollaway 8y ago
  Yes, creating a company from scratch is hard. It's a lot of work. Part of that work is taking care of yourself and your cofounders. If you want to create a successful company, there's no room not to do those things. At best you'll burn out. If somehow your company survives, you probably won't like the culture you created. To be clear: I'm not saying "don't work hard". I'm saying that if you think you can make it by cutting out all personal time, you don't have the stamina you think you do. Almost nobody does, you're not the exception, and even if you are, you're gambling your company with your own life which, in startup lingo, is what we call a "dumb move".