Regarding founders and hard work, it's of a different nature from the typical image of people working hard. It's not like an investment bank where people are fi

Regarding founders and hard work, it's of a different nature from the typical image of people working hard. It's not like an investment bank where people are fired if they aren't in the office from 8 to midnight. Startupers tend to spend 80 to 100 hours on their startups, but no one is "making" them do it. It's extremely focused engagement. I think it's still counterproductive and unhealthy to work that much (although 60 is sustainable and not unhealthy when you enjoy what you're doing and have a lot of autonomy) but it's not something that happens because startups really require huge amounts of work. They require a lot more commitment and energy than average jobs, but 60 hours is more than enough in most cases (except for people involved in fundraising, which is a hellish and time-consuming slog I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy's tapeworm) to get things done. What causes that insanity in hours is that the extremely high stakes lead to a persistent sense of needing to do more. This causes a lot of people to have serious anxiety, and you know what's a good antidote to anxiety (in moderation)? Work. (Work itself is not very stressful: most people like their work; what they hate is the political and interpersonal stress associated with high-stakes organizational social-climbing.) They subsume themselves in work because it gets them in the zone and happy, whereas when they aren't "working" they are thinking about work stresses and unhappy.