[cbushko]

This article resonated with me as I have worked in a toxic startup environment that required 70+ hour work weeks. That company checked every box in the 2nd list:

  - The market is not large enough right now. It was a huge market with huge incumbents with deep pockets
  - The product is bad. A poorly designed product written by junior engineers
  - Poor positioning. Fighting the big companies with no real value add is not a good strategy
  - High competition. See above.
  - Not talented team members. A rotating door of employees that leave in frustration.
  - Poor alignment. Constant down time and everything is always on fire (hence 70+ hour work weeks).
  - Poor founder. Definitely.

I still "work long hours" but not for the company. I enjoy technology and learning new things. I put in my regular hours for the companies I work for and my hobby is playing with other technology. I get to learn new things and my employers benefit. As an example, I learned kubernetes on the side. When the time came to build a new cloud platform, I was in a position to be the expert at it and was able to implement the platform for my employer, resulting in millions a year in cloud savings.