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I've worked 80+ hour weeks on an emotional roller-coaster knowing I would certainly fail. I definitely hated it.

The difference is that this was at BigCo. Does this mean that I'm not cut out for a startup?

(EDIT: Am I a fool for believing that I can escape from 80-hour work weeks and emotional roller coasters by working at a startup?)

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I think it helps if you've done this once already. Ie death marches at bigco.

The thing that everyone seems to have forgotten is that large part of the 80 hours at a star up as a founder, is self driven. Ie you'll jump out of bed everyday excited to get to work. If you can make sure you don't get burnt out, I think it's sustainable at 40 hours a week.

Michael Wolfe has some great answers on quora about how to run a startup and not get burnt out.

I think the big difference is in the outcome. That situation at BigCo won't make you better, I think it only drains you. That type of work at a startup though transforms you for the good. The main reason has to do with ownership.

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