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"I love work. I love working late nights, hacking on things. This week I didn't go to sleep before midnight once. And yet... I also love my wife and kids. I love long walks, contemplating life over good coffee, and deep, meaningful conversations. None of this would be possible if my life was defined by 12 hour days, six days a week. More importantly, a successful company is not a sprint, it's a marathon."

"And this is when this is your own company! When you devote 72 hours a week to someone else's startup, you need to really think about that arrangement a few times. I find it highly irresponsible for a founder to promote that model. As a founder, you are not an employee, and your risks and leverage are fundamentally different. I will always advocate for putting the time in because it is what brought me happiness."

"But you don't measure that by the energy you put in, or the hours you're sitting in the office, but the output you produce. Burning out on twelve-hour days, six days a week, has no prize at the end. It's unsustainable, it shouldn't be the standard and it sure as hell should not be seen as a positive sign of a company."

Deep personal passion for work and late-night hacking can coexist with strong commitments to family, rest, and reflective life moments. Long, enforced workweeks destroy time for family, walks, conversation, and sustained well-being. Founders occupy different risk and leverage positions than employees and should not promote extreme schedules for others. Intensity and commitment are valuable when chosen freely and measured by output, not hours spent in the office. Occasional all-nighters can be enjoyable in the right context, but chronic twelve-hour, six-day schedules lead to burnout and are an unsustainable, unhealthy model to normalize.

Read at Armin Ronacher's Thoughts and Writings