An explicit embrace of extreme hustle values sleep as expendable, relationships as distractions, and speed-of-travel (including helicopter use) as efficiency. The lifestyle included averaging 3½ hours of sleep per night, working roughly 12½ hours daily, gaining 80 pounds, surviving on Red Bull, and struggling with anxiety. Daily routines prioritized business optimization: having meals delivered, taking only classes that allowed laptops, and largely eschewing human interaction. The approach frames personal sacrifice and bodily harm as acceptable trade-offs for startup growth, portraying relentless self-optimization as its own badge of success.
He has built two companies, allegedly valued at more than $20 million, and all he sacrificed in the process was everything that makes life worth living: During my first year working on Step Up Social, I averaged 3½ hours of sleep a night and had about 12½ hours every day to focus on business. The physical and mental toll was brutal: I gained 80 pounds, lived on Red Bull and struggled with anxiety.
This is not dissimilar from what you'd find on any Instagram grindset motivational page, though the special twist is that Barr did all this stuff while an undergrad at Miami University in Ohio. While everyone around him was busy figuring out how to become a person, young Emil looked in the mirror and thought, Now is the time to become a machine -to "optimize ruthlessly during your peak physical and cognitive years," as he puts it.
Collection
[
|
...
]