The hustle culture that was prominent in early Silicon Valley startups has faded in recent years, replaced by trends like work-life balance, soft entrepreneurship and quiet retirement. But rapid advances in AI have created a highly competitive field that is leading some startups to return to the hustle mentality.
One example of this resurfacing trend is a recent post by Jeffrey Wang, co-founder of AI startup Exa Labs, inquiring about purchasing sleeping pods for the company’s San Francisco office, which sparked conversation as many founders and experts expressed interest in napping at work. Others joined the conversation, discussing the possibility that employers may expect employees to work long hours, leading to situations where employees have no choice but to sleep at work.
Wang refuted this notion in a recent conversation with TechCrunch. In his view, nap pods would only be offered to employees who want to optimize their sleep, as it’s not always possible to do so at home. He further noted that employees are “well compensated” and also own shares in the company. Therefore, the idea of ​​working harder for the company could directly translate to increased personal income.
“In a startup, it might be okay for the company not to be your main priority in life, but in a fast-growing company, that’s definitely not the case,” he told TechCrunch.
This mindset isn’t for everyone, or even for every company, and especially in today’s work environment where employees value flexibility and work-life balance, the prospect of being expected to work hard all day, and even sleep at work, is likely to be unappealing to many new hires.
However, in some highly competitive fields, team members are willing to work long hours and make sacrifices to help the business grow. AI is an emerging field with huge potential, so startups that can innovate quickly are more likely to outperform their competitors and ultimately produce successful products, at which point the team may be able to scale back or distribute the workload a bit. Employers who communicate expectations openly and offer fair compensation may benefit from this mindset, but history suggests this trend may not last.
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