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Different lifestyles work for different people. I know Seth -- he's energized and motivated by the work at hand. He's happiest when he's working. That doesn'

Different lifestyles work for different people. I know Seth -- he's energized and motivated by the work at hand. He's happiest when he's working. That doesn't mean he doesn't know how to have fun. We were racing bicycles around Google Ventures just for kicks. He's also 21 -- he doesn't have a family he has to worry about. In fact, I'd say his employees and his company are his family. I like work and life balance, but not everyone needs it. or sometimes you find your fun within your work.

nbauman 16y ago
I agree with your point - not everyone needs work life balance; however, I think what the Author is saying is it's far from honorable to lead a company in that fashion. The culture of the company is largely influenced by the behavior of its leaders. If Seth's lifestyle is a point of pride it's likely to be poisonous in the longterm for the company.
codypo 16y ago
I disagree that not everyone needs work/life balance. If you're a leader at a company, your employees count on you to make good decisions regarding their future. I don't think you can make reasonable decisions here if you spend all of your time working and thus lose the perspective one gains from an outside life. Let's say that I'm an employee of yours and I have a pregnant wife. I wish to take off at 3 PM once a week to accompany her to the doctor. I make this pitch to you, my 21 year old CEO who lives at the office. If you're buried in the business all day, every day, could you comprehend how important something like this would be to me? Even if you did say yes, what would you think of my commitment to the company? Would you factor my behavior into your decisions about my future? You may find great meaning within your work, but others will have much different priorities in their lives. I think you lose your ability to realize that with this sort of workload.
- lkrubner 16y ago
  My remark may be dismissed as trolling, but seriously think about the scenario you are putting forward: "Let's say that I'm an employee of yours and I have a pregnant wife. I wish to take off at 3 PM once a week to accompany her to the doctor. I make this pitch to you, my 21 year old CEO who lives at the office." This is at a startup? The early phase of a startup is short - within 2 years the company either takes off or dies. I really, seriously think that if you and your wife want to have children, you should get a job at a larger and more stable organization - its good for your kid, good for your wife, good for you. If you have a pregnant wife, you should not be working at a startup. Find something more stable and secure.
  - jeffclark 16y ago
    I'd like to buy enough downvotes to make this comment disappear forever. A startup is still a job, and a job is still only part of your life. There are jobs before and jobs after, but nobody lays on their deathbed wishing they would have spent _less_ time with their family.
    - run4yourlives 16y ago
      And kill the discussion? That's awesome. The point is valid even if it is flawed, you and the others that downvoted should be upvoting it, then providing your counter argument.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
    - lkrubner 16y ago
      You would like for my comment to disappear forever? I find it worrisome that your attitude exists on Hacker News. This is suppose to be a forum for frank, honest discussions about the life of entrepreneurs. I think my point is valid: the early phase of a startup is uniquely stressful. That should not be the part of your life that overlaps with having a child. We are talking about maybe 2 or 3 years of your life, or maybe 4 at a stretch. Why not have kids before that, or after that? Why have kids just then, during what you know will be the most stressful years of your whole life? I'd be curious to know what your reasoning is. Of course, if you can buy enough down votes to make my comment disappear forever, then you won't need to address the point that I raise.
      - jeffclark 16y ago
        Because your comment reeks of "startup romanticism", not startup practice. The most successful "Startup Guys™" that I know aren't the ones that spend 23 hours at the office and an hour commuting. They're the same guys that appreciate you staying late, but understand the importance of a life outside of their project and encourage you to get out of the office. It is unhealthy for you and it is unhealthy for your company. What's the point of being the boss if you can't take advantage of being the boss? Having enough money to live on an island is worthless if you don't get to spend any time on the island.
- Locke1689 16y ago
  Everyone has work/life balance. The difference is exactly where each person draws a line between work and life. It seems that Seth prefers to include much of what we would think of as "work" as life. I find most of these comments on HN especially funny because most of my non-HN friends would find this group of people positively anti-social. They would find the very notion of obsessively commenting on a startup site with a group of people who have never met pretty pathetic, to be honest. Their idea of socializing is getting drunk at a club and finding some hot girl to go home with for the night. Honestly, sometimes that's my idea of socializing, too. Does that make them more "social" than this crowd? No. Is HN's socializing any better? Of course not. I'm really depressed at the amount of judgmental bullshit that this thread has to spawned, to be honest. People need to understand that others may not be like them and may not make the same life choices. Does that make their choices inherently worse? No. It may also mean that they have different goals. Given that Seth and his company seem to be doing OK it looks like his choices are working for the company and, moreover, he understands his market and his employees.
quanticle 16y ago
That's true, but what I worry about is the implicit pressure for his employees to put in the same sort of hours. Not everyone can be productive for sixteen hours a day. Heck, I doubt that even Seth is productive for the full time that he's at the office. I wonder how much of his day goes to fixing the mistakes he made on the previous day.
mkramlich 16y ago
At 21, males are still essentially boys. Physically we treat them as adults. But mentally we are still closer to boys. And when you're a programmer, and a boy, the computer is basically this big awesome multi-purpose toy you can make do all kinds of cool/weird/esoteric things, some on the screen, some in mindspace -- some of which we find that others will pay us millions of dollars to do. Bonus! It's easy to be obsessed with it under these conditions.

nbauman 16y ago

I agree with your point - not everyone needs work life balance; however, I think what the Author is saying is it's far from honorable to lead a company in that fashion. The culture of the company is largely influenced by the behavior of its leaders. If Seth's lifestyle is a point of pride it's likely to be poisonous in the longterm for the company.

codypo 16y ago

I disagree that not everyone needs work/life balance. If you're a leader at a company, your employees count on you to make good decisions regarding their future. I don't think you can make reasonable decisions here if you spend all of your time working and thus lose the perspective one gains from an outside life. Let's say that I'm an employee of yours and I have a pregnant wife. I wish to take off at 3 PM once a week to accompany her to the doctor. I make this pitch to you, my 21 year old CEO who lives at the office. If you're buried in the business all day, every day, could you comprehend how important something like this would be to me? Even if you did say yes, what would you think of my commitment to the company? Would you factor my behavior into your decisions about my future? You may find great meaning within your work, but others will have much different priorities in their lives. I think you lose your ability to realize that with this sort of workload.

lkrubner 16y ago
My remark may be dismissed as trolling, but seriously think about the scenario you are putting forward: "Let's say that I'm an employee of yours and I have a pregnant wife. I wish to take off at 3 PM once a week to accompany her to the doctor. I make this pitch to you, my 21 year old CEO who lives at the office." This is at a startup? The early phase of a startup is short - within 2 years the company either takes off or dies. I really, seriously think that if you and your wife want to have children, you should get a job at a larger and more stable organization - its good for your kid, good for your wife, good for you. If you have a pregnant wife, you should not be working at a startup. Find something more stable and secure.
- jeffclark 16y ago
  I'd like to buy enough downvotes to make this comment disappear forever. A startup is still a job, and a job is still only part of your life. There are jobs before and jobs after, but nobody lays on their deathbed wishing they would have spent _less_ time with their family.
  - run4yourlives 16y ago
    And kill the discussion? That's awesome. The point is valid even if it is flawed, you and the others that downvoted should be upvoting it, then providing your counter argument.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - lkrubner 16y ago
    You would like for my comment to disappear forever? I find it worrisome that your attitude exists on Hacker News. This is suppose to be a forum for frank, honest discussions about the life of entrepreneurs. I think my point is valid: the early phase of a startup is uniquely stressful. That should not be the part of your life that overlaps with having a child. We are talking about maybe 2 or 3 years of your life, or maybe 4 at a stretch. Why not have kids before that, or after that? Why have kids just then, during what you know will be the most stressful years of your whole life? I'd be curious to know what your reasoning is. Of course, if you can buy enough down votes to make my comment disappear forever, then you won't need to address the point that I raise.
    - jeffclark 16y ago
      Because your comment reeks of "startup romanticism", not startup practice. The most successful "Startup Guys™" that I know aren't the ones that spend 23 hours at the office and an hour commuting. They're the same guys that appreciate you staying late, but understand the importance of a life outside of their project and encourage you to get out of the office. It is unhealthy for you and it is unhealthy for your company. What's the point of being the boss if you can't take advantage of being the boss? Having enough money to live on an island is worthless if you don't get to spend any time on the island.
Locke1689 16y ago
Everyone has work/life balance. The difference is exactly where each person draws a line between work and life. It seems that Seth prefers to include much of what we would think of as "work" as life. I find most of these comments on HN especially funny because most of my non-HN friends would find this group of people positively anti-social. They would find the very notion of obsessively commenting on a startup site with a group of people who have never met pretty pathetic, to be honest. Their idea of socializing is getting drunk at a club and finding some hot girl to go home with for the night. Honestly, sometimes that's my idea of socializing, too. Does that make them more "social" than this crowd? No. Is HN's socializing any better? Of course not. I'm really depressed at the amount of judgmental bullshit that this thread has to spawned, to be honest. People need to understand that others may not be like them and may not make the same life choices. Does that make their choices inherently worse? No. It may also mean that they have different goals. Given that Seth and his company seem to be doing OK it looks like his choices are working for the company and, moreover, he understands his market and his employees.

quanticle 16y ago

That's true, but what I worry about is the implicit pressure for his employees to put in the same sort of hours. Not everyone can be productive for sixteen hours a day. Heck, I doubt that even Seth is productive for the full time that he's at the office. I wonder how much of his day goes to fixing the mistakes he made on the previous day.

mkramlich 16y ago

At 21, males are still essentially boys. Physically we treat them as adults. But mentally we are still closer to boys. And when you're a programmer, and a boy, the computer is basically this big awesome multi-purpose toy you can make do all kinds of cool/weird/esoteric things, some on the screen, some in mindspace -- some of which we find that others will pay us millions of dollars to do. Bonus! It's easy to be obsessed with it under these conditions.