7 ms·
Do you think that there is something fundamentally different between doing a start-up and the various other high-stress, all consuming industries (e.g. big law,
by vqc 12y ago
Do you think that there is something fundamentally different between doing a start-up and the various other high-stress, all consuming industries (e.g. big law, finance, medical residency)? In all of these industries, the narrative is that work is all consuming. Clients are non-stop and demanding. Work is 24/7. Work makes you miss birthdays, dinners, holidays, vacations. But ultimately, in all of these industries there are plenty (maybe not a lot) of highly successful people with kids and significant others who could say nothing other than "my big law/finance/doctor significant other can be described as nothing more than the perfect significant other/parent".
I think there are lots of things that affect the quality of a relationship, celebrating birthdays and showing up for holidays are likely not high on the list.
- tadmilbourn 12y agoI'd say that the other high-stress industries cause a similar dynamic. Work/Family pressure is not exclusive to startups or tech startups or however you want to label it. But, the one difference I'd call out with doing a startup (or owning any small business), is that you're responsible for whether that business fails or not and any of the jobs that are attached to it. So you feel an intense responsibility to those other coworkers and their families. You also have this if you're a manager in a larger company, but I think the intensity with which you feel it is a lesser degree (you messing up is still not good, but the company may still survive).
- kevinskii 12y agoBeing a tech startup CEO is heavily over-romanticized. If the business fails your employees will likely soon go on to find other jobs, probably at a higher salary. It's not hard to think of other common jobs which are much more critical and stressful.
- dquail 12y agoIf you're a startup CEO and you fail, employees find other jobs. If you're a physician and you fail, people die.
- abfan1127 12y agonot for podiatrists...
- wellboy 12y agoYes there is a very, very big difference. For these high-stress jobs you get paid lots and lots of money. You don't get paid anything to do a startup, you might even do it for 2 years and NOTHING will come out of it.