A 22-year-old entrepreneur eliminated any work-life balance while building companies, committing to punishing schedules and delayed gratification to accelerate success. The early period involved averaging about 3.5 hours of sleep and working roughly 12.5 hours per day in the first year. The intensity led to an 80-pound weight gain, heavy Red Bull consumption, and struggles with anxiety. Two startups reached a combined valuation exceeding $20 million. The approach frames front-loading effort as a way to secure future choice and views youth as a narrow window to build meaningful ventures given easy access to information today.
Entrepreneur Emil Barr said he completely eliminated any work-life balance as he was building up his companies and put himself through a punishing work schedule, arguing that young people can maximize their "peak physical and cognitive years." Otherwise, the traditional work-life balance is a trap that will keep ambitious people "comfortably mediocre," he said. What would you sacrifice to become a billionaire by the time you turn 30 years old?
In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, he weighed in on the debate that's raging through leadership circles, with some CEOs convinced that a healthy balance is good for workers and business, while others like Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang insist on maintaining an always-on mentality. Barr-founder of Step Up Social, managing partner of Candid Network, and a cofounder of Flashpass-said he's already built two companies with a combined value of more than $20 million, and delayed gratification while his peers partied.
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