So, what's up with these insane hours?
You've written about the need for working long hours, but aren't Michael Parkatti and Mike Marrone taking it a bit too far?
You've written about the need for working long hours, but aren't Michael Parkatti and Mike Marrone taking it a bit too far?
All of that being said, ever since I've been a founder (and especially during YC), I've noticed my work time shooting off the charts compared to how I used to work for other companies. I know why this is for me: it's simply because I know that every minute I'm not working is a minute that I'm subtracting from the company's success timeline. People talk about compressing your career into the span of 4 years as a founder, and yeah that's really what's going on. The reason is because if you don't work on your startup, there literally is nobody else that will. And for me, it feels like I'm costing myself money when I'm not working, and that takes a while for people like me to figure out how to balance. I have found that it gets easier after you've reached a more stable 1.0 of your product, but it's always a challenge.
I must say, though, that the idea that YC is a cult is pretty ridiculous.
If people working insanely long hours is actually mythology, that actually hurts YC: sane people will avoid applying in the first place.
If the long hours is really true, then people aren't being productive, also hurting YC.
Either way, call me a troll but this is something YC should be making clear.
Your biggest mistake is taking the blog entry of one startup out of 100 or so that they've funded and assuming that what they do is typical and/or directed by YC.
Are there numbers about this? A survey of average hours worked in YC startups (ideally separating code / biz time) would be helpful to give people a realistic idea of what they're signing up for when they apply.
People work so hard because they want to do well on demo day. Other than that one day, I don't know of any way to pitch to all of the top investors in the industry at once. You'd be a fool to not try to maximize your productivity with that in mind.