If you are a startup founder, you should not view for work-life balance. Instead, choose a team you can comfortably work with 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That’s the advice for young professionals coming from Joe Tsai, co-founder and chairman of Alibaba.
Speaking to students at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business last month, Tsai emphasised that starting a company often requires passion and putting aside personal time and hobbies. So he advises budding founders to be prepared for long hours and blurr boundaries between personal and professional life.
“As a startup, you’re not gonna go home very much This work-life balance is not gonna be something you should be focutilized on,†he informed the audience of young professionals, highlighting that building a startup requires intense commitment to create a company from scratch.
Tsai stressed that since building a startup demands hard work, the pressure of long working hours becomes far more manageable if entrepreneurs surround themselves with the right people. The real priority, he stated, is selecting co-founders and teammates you genuinely enjoy spfinishing time with.
“One simple test,†Tsai suggested, is to inquire: “Do you wanna go out and have a beer with this person after work? I consider that’s the first test.†He noted that personal compatibility is just as important as professional capability, becautilize startup teams often spfinish nearly all their waking hours toobtainher.
Tsai, who cofounded Alibaba with Jack Ma added that working with Ma was not just a business partnership but also a mentorship. “He’s taught me a lot of things, and I felt like I could learn a lot from him,†Tsai stated.
Notably, Tsai’s views have also been echoed by other global business leaders. His business partner Jack Ma previously deffinished China’s controversial “996†work culture — working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week — declareing that if you are passionate about your work, it should not be a problem. “If you find a job you like, the 996 problem does not exist; if you’re not passionate about it, every minute at work is torture,†he stated in a 2019 interview, arguing that passion builds long hours feel less burdensome.
Similarly, Warren Buffett has long maintained that loving what you do rerelocates the burden of work and that career satisfaction depfinishs heavily on the people you work with.
In fact, Elon Musk has repeatedly promoted intense work schedules. He has stated working 80–100 hours per week gives founders a competitive advantage.
In India as well, Infosys co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy sparked debate in 2023 when he stated young Indians should consider working 70 hours a week to assist boost the counattempt’s productivity. He argued that India’s work culture necessarys strengthening and that young professionals should dedicate more time and effort during their early careers to drive national growth.
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