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My issue with this is that people should not be working to create cultures where they never leave the office. There is work - and there is life. Your work can

My issue with this is that people should not be working to create cultures where they never leave the office. There is work - and there is life. Your work can be fun, fulfilling, challenging. But there should also be things you do which define you outside of the workplace. I definitely wouldn't want to be in a family where my life revolved around my parents' work. My life is based on my family, then work. I love what I do. But I love my family more. And, as a family man, I don't want people bringing their dogs OR their children to work. If I had to choose, I'd put up with kids before pets.

tptacek 14y ago
So, I appreciate this perspective and think it's valid. But the counterpoint to "work/life balance" in these discussions always seems to be "we'll figure out work/life balance after we figure out traction for our company". That's a false dichotomy, is my point. If you're going to engage a small team of people in an endeavor that is going to demand some of their evenings or even weekends, you can still do that in a way that doesn't alienate them from their family life. It's also helpful for the founding team to keep in mind that employees are human beings with human needs, and not Gravatars with particular Github histories.
- silverbax88 14y ago
  Agreed. I've worked many days of long hours, and like many of those with a creative/programmer/entrepreneurial bent, my work and drive consumes me, far beyond 8-5. But the reality is that work and projects come and go - I can, and will, always make more - but my family will not come and go and the rewards of a lifetime of shared history and experiences are truly impossible to build without years of serious commitment. As I look around today, I'm not working on what I was working on five years ago. I'm not working on what I was ten years ago. But my family is the same family. My daughter is barreling towards college and my wife and I have a few more grey hairs, but we're all still here. Most projects have been completed, faded into digital dust in my mind and I've kept on going. But my family and the life I built outside of those projects is constant. I know this only comes as the wisdom of age, but every time I hear about startup culture I snicker. Because in reality I pound out work. A lot of work. A TON of work. I take pride in the fact that I smoke young kids and their recently acquired ruby skills or whatever they have. And I get home by 5:30 on most days, too.

tptacek 14y ago

So, I appreciate this perspective and think it's valid. But the counterpoint to "work/life balance" in these discussions always seems to be "we'll figure out work/life balance after we figure out traction for our company". That's a false dichotomy, is my point. If you're going to engage a small team of people in an endeavor that is going to demand some of their evenings or even weekends, you can still do that in a way that doesn't alienate them from their family life. It's also helpful for the founding team to keep in mind that employees are human beings with human needs, and not Gravatars with particular Github histories.

silverbax88 14y ago
Agreed. I've worked many days of long hours, and like many of those with a creative/programmer/entrepreneurial bent, my work and drive consumes me, far beyond 8-5. But the reality is that work and projects come and go - I can, and will, always make more - but my family will not come and go and the rewards of a lifetime of shared history and experiences are truly impossible to build without years of serious commitment. As I look around today, I'm not working on what I was working on five years ago. I'm not working on what I was ten years ago. But my family is the same family. My daughter is barreling towards college and my wife and I have a few more grey hairs, but we're all still here. Most projects have been completed, faded into digital dust in my mind and I've kept on going. But my family and the life I built outside of those projects is constant. I know this only comes as the wisdom of age, but every time I hear about startup culture I snicker. Because in reality I pound out work. A lot of work. A TON of work. I take pride in the fact that I smoke young kids and their recently acquired ruby skills or whatever they have. And I get home by 5:30 on most days, too.