The myth of work-life balance, debunked by the CEO of an AI company / “It's incomprehensible that people think they can be successful with 38 hours a week”

Silicon Valley and Wall Street giants say eight-hour days won't get you to the top, and a busy schedule is essential for anyone who wants to succeed in business, according to Fortune business magazine.

“The idea that you can somehow achieve excellence, that you can build something extraordinary by working 38 hours a week and having a work-life balance, seems incomprehensible to me,” Andrew Feldman, co-founder and CEO of the $8.1 billion AI chip company Cerebras, recently pointed out on the 20VC podcast focusing on venture capital and financing startups. “It is not true in any aspect of life.”

While many American workers are pushing for a shorter workweek, America's founders remain true to the “grindset” culture (a mindset focused on extreme work, often at the expense of personal well-being and relationships) as the formula for trillion-dollar success. Feldman is just one of many business leaders, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary, who emphasize the hard truth of success.

Of course, professionals can limit themselves to a 40-hour work week and still be happy, but Cerebras' CEO made it clear that they won't be the ones bringing generation-defining products to market.

“You can have a wonderful life. You can do a lot of really good things and there are many paths to happiness,” Feldman continued. “But the path to building something new from nothing and making it great isn't part-time work. It's not about 30, 40, 50 hours a week. It's about every minute of your life. And of course there are costs.”

The myth of work-life balance – and the 60-hour 'sweet spot'

Top leaders debunked the myth of work-life balance; Zoom CEO Eric Yuan told employees that “there is no way” to achieve harmony between the two because “work is life, life is work.”

Former US President Barack Obama said that to be “excellent at anything” requires single-minded focus at certain times. For his part, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman warned that launching a start-up requires giving up Netflix marathons after work.

“If I ever hear a founder say, 'This is how I have a balanced life,' that means they're not determined to win,” Hoffman told Stanford University's “How to Start a Startup” class in 2014. “The only really great founders are the ones who say, 'I'm going to give it my all to make this happen.'”

Entrepreneurs looking to take their businesses to the next level may wonder where to draw the line and disconnect from the chaos around them—and some Silicon Valley founders have rejected the toxic 100-hour work week schedule. But there seems to be a general consensus that the 9-to-5 work schedule won't lead to rapid career advancement.

Khozema Shipchandler, the CEO of the $17 billion Twilio company, gives himself just eight hours on Saturday to not think about work. Shipchandler told Fortune that “every one of us has to make certain choices about our professional and personal lives” and that people can choose to pursue hobbies and spend their evenings to themselves — however, he “never talked to a colleague” who didn't have the same schedule as him.

Tennis champion Serena Williams also said entrepreneurs had to “work 24 hours a day” every day, and billionaire O'Leary advised those starting a company to “forget about balance… You're going to work 25 hours a day, seven days a week, forever.” Newbie entrepreneurs may not take their advice literally, but one leader has shed light on how many hours people should really be working.

The lesson for most young professionals

Earlier this year, billionaire computer scientist Brin told Google's Gemini employees that “60 hours a week is the sweet spot of productivity,” and workforce experts say it's actually about going the extra mile.

“The lesson for most young professionals is that if you want to get ahead, you're not going to get there with 40 hours a week,” Dan Kaplan, co-head of CHRO at ZRG Partners, told Fortune magazine earlier this year. “Part of the danger of the 60-hour week comment is that it's not really about 60 hours. It's about working overtime until the job is done.”

While entrepreneurs are conflicted about the exact number of hours they should work to achieve optimal productivity, Feldman told Fortune that there is no magic number. Instead, the focus should be on getting things done.

“It's not about the number of hours worked,” Feldman explains. “It's about passion and total dedication to work. It's about wanting to change the world, to be the best you can be, and to help your team be the best they can be,” says the AI ​​company's CEO.

Photo source: Dreamstime.com