
Have a Life Outside of Your Startup - transburgh
http://www.gobignetwork.com/wil/2007/6/26/how-to-have-a-life-outside-of-your-startup/10170/view.aspx
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pg
Most of the posts on this site are merely uselessly vague, but this one is
actually false.

I realize it would sound a lot nicer if I said that founders should strive to
have a balanced life. After all, how can an unbalanced life be good? And yet
it is probably not a coincidence that so many successful startup founders blow
off everything else while they're working on the company.

The one non-work activity I think is a net win for founders is exercising. But
the reason it's a net win is that it helps you to work harder.

~~~
uuilly
I smell MBA's everytime I see that gobig site. They're like cops pretending to
be drug dealers. The lingo is all wrong and they're a little too eager...

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migpwr
I don't think it's possible to find "balance" but it is a good idea to take a
little time away... or else you end up with tunnel vision.

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wschroter
How is it "wrong?"

I'm surprised to hear you of all people have such a strong opinion against
what I've written.

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elq
I certainly can't speak to pg's views about your content at large; I'm
confident that I can provide an accurate representation of why he would
disagree with this article.

Quote from one of his essays - "My final test may be the most restrictive. Do
you actually want to start a startup? What it amounts to, economically, is
compressing your working life into the smallest possible space. Instead of
working at an ordinary rate for 40 years, you work like hell for four."

I happen to agree with him 100%.

~~~
wschroter
I'm just trying to figure out where anyone suggested I was talking about
"balance". I was saying that from time to time you need to unplug in order to
get re-charged to work harder.

Did you see the part that said I worked for 3 years without seeing my friends
or family? I'm working on my 10th startup in 13 years. I'm the last person to
advocate balance!

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staunch
You said it in your summary: _"...it's just as much work to maintain your
social life while doing a startup as it does to maintain your startup
itself."_

Don't be discouraged though. You're at least bringing up important topics.

~~~
wschroter
I did say it was "..as much WORK!" - as in, it's really hard to maintain a
social life.

