LinkedIn co-founder says founders focused on work-life balance can’t win, they lack focus and intensity

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman is of the idea that successful founders often don't have any work-life balance. He believes that to truly succeed, founders need to be fully committed to their work and willing to put everything into it.

In Short

• LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman says founders have no balance.
• Hoffman emphasises focus on project even during personal time.
• Reid Hoffman's LinkedIn success attributed to his intense dedication over 14 years

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, factors such as the increasing prevalence of remote work, the rise of the gig economy, and changing attitudes towards work culture have sparked a common debate around work-life balance. Many employees have been advocating for more flexible working arrangements to better manage their personal and professional lives. However, prominent tech leaders like Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy have stated their belief that young people should work for at least 70 hours per week. For perspective, if you work 5 days a week, this means Murthy expects employees to work an average of 14 hours every day. Similarly, Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph and Reddit co-founder and former executive chairperson Alexis Ohanian have echoed Murthy’s opinion, suggesting that there is no such thing as work-life balance. The LinkedIn co-founder believes the same.

During a guest lecture at Stanford University on “How to be a Great Founder”, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman addressed the debate around work-life balance. He said, “I actually think founders have no balance”. “Like literally, if I ever hear a founder talk about how I have a balanced life and so forth. [I’d say] they are not committed to winning,” Hoffman adds. “Only the great founders are like, I am going to put everything into doing this now.”

Reid Hoffman is basically of the idea that successful founders often don't have any work-life balance. He believes that to truly succeed, founders need to be fully committed to their work and willing to put everything into it, without trying to balance it with other things like hobbies or family time. Hoffman thinks that only the most dedicated founders are willing to make sacrifices and give their all to their work.

Although, he does clarify that he does not mean that founders don’t go on dates or parties or meet family, but during the entire time, they should be “super focused” on their project. “It is super hard and there are lots of ways [for the business] to die”, Hoffman says.

He believes that while founders should still make time for things like going on dates or spending time with family, their main focus should always be on their project. He emphasises that building a business is really tough and there are many ways it can fail, so founders need to be completely dedicated to it. Even though this intense focus might only last for a few years, during that time, founders should be willing to prioritise their work over everything else, even if it means being a bit "unbalanced" in their lives.

“Now this lifestyle may only last for a couple of years. But while founders are working at building their businesses, they have to be unbalanced,” he adds.

Reid Hoffman started LinkedIn in 2002, but it didn't get popular until about 2008. In 2011, it became a company that anyone could buy shares in. Then, in 2016, Microsoft bought it for $26 billion. Basically, Reid Hoffman worked hard for 14 years to build LinkedIn, and now he's worth over $5 billion because of it.

Published By:
Nandini Yadav
Published On:
Apr 15, 2024