A CEO describes being a morning person and starting the day while others sleep. He links early success to family values from immigrant parents who emphasized hard work and creating opportunities. He began his career after graduating in 1996 and advanced quickly, reaching CFO of a large GE business by age 31. He argues that reaching the C-suite requires work-life choices with consequences, including missing some family events. He supports an eight-to-five approach for those who want it, but he questions whether it is feasible without sacrifice. He also notes he has not discussed this approach with peers.
"For most 20-something-year-olds fresh out of college, 4:30 a.m. is when the night ends, after a night of partying. For Twilio's CEO, Khozema Shipchandler, it was the beginning of his day. The 51-year-old exec says he's always been a morning person-on weekdays, at least-and that starting his day while others slept is why he got ahead faster than most."
""My parents were the classic immigrant success story, and as with many immigrant parents, they wanted their kids to do better than them and to create the opportunities for them," he reflected on his family, who moved to the U.S. from Mumbai. "They really pushed working hard and playing hard-which, by the way, I do play hard when I'm not working-so that was the goal.""
"By the time he was 31, Shipchandler was already CFO of a multi-billion-dollar GE business. "If you were willing to put in the effort, they were willing to give you the opportunity," he added. "So I got a lot of opportunities there.""
""Every one of us has to make certain work-life choices," the Gen X boss. "This work-life choice obviously has certain consequences. I wasn't there for all of my son's tennis matches." "If you want to work eight-to-five, coach your kids sports teams, have the evenings for yourself, and maybe another hobby or interest, that's awesome," Shipchandler adds-but he caveats that he's "never spoken to a peer""
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