[choxi]

I appreciate the gesture of being a devil's advocate to the work-life balance posts but the hyperbole of "9am-5am" is hurting your case, you're giving others a straw man to argue against.

A 70 hour work week is not actually that unreasonable. You wake up at 8AM, get to work by 9AM, work until 7PM, and then head out with another 5 hours still before you need to go to sleep and still get a solid 8 hours of rest. Do that 7 days a week and you have 70 hours. As long as you're actively fighting burnout by using those 5 hours to exercise, hang out with friends, or otherwise get your head out of your startup, it can be a healthy lifestyle.

I think it's important that we get rid of this false dichotomy between working hard and having a work/life balance. I think the author is right that the only way you can increase your odds of success is to consistently work harder, that formula has never failed me my entire life. But burnout prevents you from doing that consistently so balance is needed even in a 70 hour work week, and if you sanitize the hyperbole you'll find that's pretty doable.

[cunac]

what will increase your odds of success is to work smarter and have better hourly output than your competition (whatever is appropriate measure of 'better' in your case). Working long hours should be your last resort not your first how to succeed. Yes I do understand that longer hours compensate lower hourly output but I would argue that you should find area where your talent lies. If you are in top 5% in given field that is enough competitive advantage without putting more then regular hours. IMNSHO Reason why most startups fail, there are not enough hours in a day to compensate for a lack of innate ability to do job.

[kamakazizuru]

very valid. Also recognize that in many competitive industries and jobs - you´ll be working hours like that - home run or not. In consulting - 70 hours a week is completely normal.