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I hear you loud and clear.

I've worked at two startups: one small and untested that failed, and another that was more a very immature established company(they had products, customers, revenues, etc) but espoused the "work all the time, because there's too much to get done" philosophy.

I've also worked for a private company that did consulting for the US Government (mostly, but not all, for the DoD). The quality of life was great, but I was surrounded by people who were interested in punching the clock.

I started working as a game developer earlier this year, and have found its lows way lower than I imagined and its highs few and far in-between.

I don't think there is a panacea. I second the opinion that: - work you find rewarding - with people you enjoy doing it with - for acceptable compensation

is about as good as it gets.