[mreams]

Totally agreed. When I left college I was convinced I'd never work for a startup because of the terrible stereotypes about startup culture. I love programming, but there is nothing I love so much that I want to do it all day every day and never do anything else. Even if you're a founder and would actually make a life-changing amount of money if the company was acquired, I really believe it's counterproductive never to take breaks. That's how you end up with code you take one look at and rewrite the next morning.

Ironically I work for a startup now, but one with a shockingly sane approach to working hours. I specifically asked about that in the interview and it turns out they were telling the truth, they really do care about work life balance.