I sleep four hours a night.
"I sleep four hours a night. I work 20-hour weekends. I had this deep desire when my son was born for him to see me as more than just an employee. And I had to prove it to myself as well. I have a nine-to-five job, then I come home, spend time with my son until he goes to sleep, have dinner with my wife, and go to bed. Then I get to work from 8 PM until 2:30 AM. I don't burn out — it's not in my personality. As a first-time founder, nobody's going to invest in me until I build something up. I've done all this myself to show what I'm made of. Not just to investors, but to the world. A lot of people are happy with living a comfortable life, working nine to five. But I think the only kind of stability you can really have is the stability that you create for yourself. You do that by being the kind of person that can make jobs for others, not just take one. I don't believe in large corporations anymore, but I do believe in a small business with a strong person and an agile team that's empowered to make changes in the world. And it's a good way to live."
"I don't burn out — it's not in my personality."
-- every burn-out patient ever.
In all seriousness: kudos for the drive but unless you have some sort of super powers it won't work out in the long run! I'm 100% convinced that personal wellbeing and health is crucial for long-term success - especially in those days when business doesn't work out too well. Good luck Om!
This is the recipe for burn out. Please slow down. I ran saas company for 3 years full time. Had some crazy highs and bad lows. Left company in October and it has geneuinely taken this long to get my creativity and sense of humor back.
You might not think you’re burning out. But you are. The people around you will notice faster than you do. You won’t laugh as much, you’ll eat worse and slowly be giving up your hobbies. I loved my company. And wish it well. But the pain caused from me running as fast as I could with it for 3 years hurt my family a lot.
Now, I am focused on being a broad span of things. Everything moving forward slowly. As in, I slowly build new products while still reading and working out and doing the things I love to do.
Progress is slower. But it’s momentum in the right direction. Being a first time founder is fun, and very rewarding but at this pace I’d argue you’re going to shoot yourself in the foot without realizing it.
I want to personally thank everyone that took the time to read this and we’re thoughtful enough to respond with their concerns and feedback.
I don’t encourage anyone to deprive themselves of sleep, or model my approach. I don’t have a genetic disposition where I require less sleep or anything like that.
I also agree this sort of thing is not sustainable, that was never the plan either. The message is about building a company while working a 9-5, through life’s circumstances because there’s a drive to do something more or make peoples lives better. My intention is I hope everyone feels empowered to carve their own path to do the same.
There's a rare gene mutation present in 3% of the population that seems to allow certain people to sleep a lot less and not get depraved.
There are also some studies that lack of sleep can cause alzheimers and dementia.
For a normal person, who is physically active at least an hour a day, 7-8 hours of sleep is vital for longterm health and I think it's extremely unresponsible to promote this kind of lifestyle.